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UNIVERSAL  CLASSICS 
LIBRARY 


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ILLVSTRATED 

¥ITH  PHOTOCRAWRE5  ON 

JAPAN  VELLVAV  ETCHINGS 

HAND  PAINTED  INDIA-PLATE 

REPRODVCTIONS.AND 

FULL  PAGE  PORTRAIT5 

OFAVTHOR5. 


M.WAL    [R  DUNNE  PUBLISHER 


WASHINGTON  tr  LONDON 


COPYRIGHT,  1901, 

BY 

M.  WALTER    DUNNE, 

PUBLISHER 


SECRET  MEMOIRS  OF 


THE  COURT  OF  BERLIN 


HONORS  GABRIEL  RIQUETI, 


COMTE    DE    MIRABEAU 
HI 


WITH  A  SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  BY 

OLIVER   H.  G.  LEIGH 

Author  of  "  French  Literature  of  the  XlXth  Century."  etc 


HAVALTER  DUNNE, PUBLISHER 
WASHINGTON  &  LONDON 


*- 


COPYRIGHT,  1901, 

BY 

M.  WALTER    DUNNE, 

PUBLISHER 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


CATHARINE  II.,  EMPRESS  OF   RUSSIA Frontispiece 

After  Rosselin. 

FREDERICK  THE  GREAT  PLAYING  His  FLUTE 131 

Photogravure  after  Ger6me. 

EMPRESS  MARIA  THERESA 261 

Photogravure  after  StaaL 

(vii) 


INTRODUCTION 


PIQUANT  entertainment  used  to  be  found  by  our  grand- 
sires  and  dames  in  "secret  memoirs"  and  "Mys- 
teries" of  high  life.  London  and  Paris  each  main- 
tained its  school  for  scandal,  with  an  organ  department 
in  which  the  merest  snatch  of  table-tattle  was  worked  up 
into  a  fine  fantasia  of  delicious  mischief.  In  those  ante- 
diluvian days  there  was  a  great  gulf  fixed  between  Peo- 
ple who  were  People,  and  the  people  who  were  not. 
"Middle"  and  "Upper-Middle" — class  scientific  culture 
had  not  yet  extended  much  beyond  the  musical  glasses 
and  a  pious  craze  to  explore  the  polar  region  of  the  court 
circle.  The  conscious  nether  world  revelled  in  envious 
awe  as  it  got  these  glimpses  of  distant  spheres  and  gloried 
as  it  found  their  denizens  frail.  It  was  the  day  of  a 
Paul  Pry  press,  before  the  advent  of  the  instrument  with 
telescopic  range  and  microscopic  penetration,  which  could 
not  but  slacken  interest  in  one  constellation  by  revealing 
so  much  of  so  many. 

There  has  been  too  pharisaical  a  view  taken  of  the  old- 
fashioned  secret  memoir.  The  gathering  of  facts  known 
to  the  entourage  of  great  personages,  which  throw  even 
the  fiercest  glare  upon  those  whose  prominence  chal- 
lenges it,  is  not  strictly  a  scandalous  act  though  it  may 
include  scandals.  The  strong  man  bade  his  artist  paint 
"warts  and  all."  If  society's  head  is  sufficiently  impor- 
tant to  be  portrayed  for  posterity,  as  it  assuredly  is,  bet- 
ter it  should  be  a  portrait  than  a  picture.  Court 
chronicles  were  historical  counterfeits.  The  demi-godded 
folk  whose  diplomatic  marriages  were  deftly  contrived  to 
keep  the  business  in  the  family,  were  by  these  veracious 
records  of  personal  observations  shown  to  be  really  humans. 
Rummage  collections  of  faded  letters  with  fadeless  memories 
completed  the  Garlands  which  Friendship  placed  on  the  brow 
of  the  Great.  The  only  corrective  of  pseudo-historical  biog- 
raphy was  the  ' '  secret  "  memoir,  to  which  posterity  owes 

(ix) 


x  MIRABEAU'S   MEMOIRS 

more  substantial  acknowledgements  than  its  affected  blush 
fully  expresses  or  hides. 

Frederick  the  uniquely  great  is  one  of  the  few  about 
whom  we  cannot  know  too  much.  Mirabeau  came  late 
on  the  scene,  but  brought  with  him  such  qualifications 
as  a  chronicler  of  royal  and  courtly  and  plebeian  every- 
day passion-play  acting  as  have  seldom  been  so  handily 
combined  under  one  hat.  He  had  passed  the  stiffest 
courses  in  the  university  of  the  world  with  honors  and 
dishonors.  A  stranger  career  was  never  run  to  a  sad- 
der and  more  momentous  ending.  The  wine  may  drink 
as  lusciously  out  of  a  pipkin  as  a  golden  goblet,  but 
only  an  exceptionally  gifted  observer  is  competent  to 
make  a  study  of  outlandish  men,  manners,  or  movements. 

Mirabeau's  father  was  of  the  very  last  type  that  should 
have  been  chosen  to  pose,  or  rather  impose,  paternally 
over  such  a  son.  Born  with  a  giant's  capacity  for  public 
service  and  private  mischief  the  young  Count's  unfortu- 
nate physiognomy  won  him  the  positive  hatred  of  his 
Marquis  father,  who  printed  himself  for  the  world  to 
admire  as  "The  Friend  of  Humanity,"  though  he  dropped 
the  r  in  the  case  of  his  brilliant  son.  Young  Mirabeau 
early  became  an  expert  in  prison  life,  although  not  a  legal 
prisoner.  His  boy-amours  were  the  excuse  for  the  father's 
lavish  use  of  lettres-de-cachet,  by  means  of  which  con- 
venient rod  he  chastised  the  lad  with  years  of  prison 
odium.  Philosopher  though  the  Marquis  supposed  him- 
self to  be  it  was  beyond  him  to  perceive  that  thrashing 
a  flour-sack  or  a  boy  is  an  excellent  way  to  waste  the 
fine  and  retain  the  course.  The  sorely  handicapped  youth 
lost  his  army  chance  by  one  escapade.  Next,  to  facilitate 
affairs  with  a  somewhat  reluctant  heiress,  he  used  her 
maid,  by  arrangement,  to  hasten  the  gainful  marriage. 
His  income  was  small,  but  his  debts  did  honor  to  his 
rank  and  talent.  For  this  a  paternal  lettre-de-cachet  placed 
him  again  in  limbo,  which  was  not  cheered  by  the 
quarreling  that  accompanied  his  wife's  visits.  Three 
years  after  the  marriage  Mirabeau's  confessedly  forbidding 
face  did  not  hinder  a  romantic  attachment  with  Sophie 
de  Ruffey,  the  eighteen-year-old  wife  of  a  rich  man  of 
sixty.  Once  again  a  lettre  caged  him  but  he  escaped  to 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

Holland,  where  the  adoring  Sophie  followed  him.  This 
was  in  1776,  Gabriel  in  his  twenty-seventh  year.  He 
dwelt  in  the  Dutch  Grub  Street  for  a  year,  expert  and 
diligent  at  all  pen-work,  solaced  by  the  news  that  only 
his  effigy  had  been  duly  executed  under  the  death  sen- 
tence his  parent  had  secured.  The  confiscation  also  pro- 
nounced did  not  add  to  his  poverty.  By  and  by  both 
were  spied  out,  arrested,  and  brought  back,  the  result 
being  three  years  and  a  half  in  Vincennes  Castle,  apart 
from  his  Sophie.  The  outcome  of  his  confinement  was  a 
batch  of  books,  the  "Erotica  Biblion,"  and  such  like  effusions 
of  a  genius,  goaded  like  Burns's,  when  its  tottery  steps 
should  have  been  gently  led. 

Being  free  once  more  in  1780  Mirabeau  made  his  first 
effort  in  forensic  pleading,  urging  the  annulment  of  the 
extreme  sentence.  This  his  eloquence  won,  but  not  his 
repeated  pleas  for  the  restitution  of  conjugal  rights  with 
Sophie,  now  enjoying  a  separate  income  from  her  divorced 
husband.  In  1784  Mirabeau  went  to  England,  accom- 
panied by  the  daughter  of  a  well-to-do  citizen  of  Holland. 
He  was  received  into  distinguished  society,  and  justice 
was  done  to  his  great  talents,  without  condonation  of  his 
least  pardonable  faults.  On  returning  to  Paris  he  fell 
into  the  toils  of  a  shameless  creature  who  had  ulterior 
schemes  in  view.  His  desertion  of  the  devoted  Madame 
de  Nehra  is  still  inexplicable. 

He  had  established  a  certain  claim  to  statesmanship  by 
some  writings,  and  Franklin  had  moved  him  to  write  his 
famous  plea  for  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati,  which  was 
translated  into  English.  In  1786  he  went  on  a  secret 
mission  to  the  Prussian  Court.  Events  in  France  were 
leading  up  to  the  breach  between  King  and  commoners. 
Mirabeau  never  sold  a  principle  nor  advocated  for  a  fee 
a  cause  in  which  he  had  no  faith,  but  it  is  true  that  his 
impecuniosity,  at  mid-age  and  at  the  turning  point  be- 
tween drifting  and  leadership,  led  him  to  accept  from 
the  King's  friends  the  wherewithal  to  clear  his  debts  and 
take  up  the  patriotic  work  which  he  alone  had  the  sagacity, 
opportunity,  and  the  genius  effectively  to  do.  The  rest 
is  familiar.  He  saw  where  the  nation  was  being  whirled, 
his  eloquence  and  experience  of  the  English  compromise 


xii  MIRABEAU'S   MEMOIRS 

government  devolved  on  him  the  high  duty  of  guiding 
the  helm  of  state.  His  hour  had  come,  but  the  ripened 
statesman  found  it  was  also  his  hour  of  doom  for  the 
sins  of  a  defiant  physique.  Strong  and  tall,  bulldog 
mien,  Goethe's  eyes,  sensual,  ambitious,  vain  of  person, 
and  of  an  eloquence  that  could  have  saved  his  country 
one  indelible  reproach,  he  died  when  supremely  needed 
by  his  people,  and  was  only  forty-two.  The  picture  re- 
calls Gambetta. 

Mirabeau  conversed  with  Frederick  in  the  old  man's  last 
illness.  His  report  went  up  to  the  French  King  through 
M.  Calonne  and  the  Duke  de  Lauzun.  It  led  to  nothing 
in  the  way  of  definite  assistance  for  the  monarchy.  He 
gathered  materials  for  his  masterly  work  on  the  Prussian 
monarchy,  and  the  Prussian  and  Saxon  States,  published 
in  four  volumes  in  1788.  Next  year  Mirabeau  issued  the 
present  work,  in  two  volumes,  "  Histoire  Secrete  et  Anec- 
dotes de  la  cour  de  Berlin"  in  two  octavo  volumes.  A 
little  reign  of  terror  was  inaugurated  in  royalty  circles 
by  this  startling  work.  Some  sort  of  demonstration  had 
to  be  made,  so,  in  cousinly  affection  as  between  King 
and  King  poor  Mirabeau's  rich  book  was  condemned  by 
the  Parliament  of  Paris  to  be  publicly  burned  by  the  com- 
mon hangman,  an  honor  once  appreciated  by  Voltaire. 
Its  offense  was  the  disrespectful  treatment  of  the  reign- 
ing King  and  other  great  personages  in  the  course  of  its 
exposure  of  intrigues  by  princes  and  courtesans  in  the 
shadow  of  the  Court. 

As  for  the  great  Frederick  himself,  even  scandals  took 
on  a  greatness  to  which  they  had  no  claim,  by  flickering 
around  his  crown.  The  religious  world  was  scandalized 
by  his  anticipation  of  Huxleyan  agnosticism,  which  was  then, 
too,  dubbed  "atheism."  Goody-goodyism  languished  into 
fits  at  his  masculine  toleration  of  fancy  faiths.  A  man  so 
bad  must  be  a  worse  King.  His  training,  temperament, 
and  ascetic  habits  in  all  but  eating  were  well  known,  but 
the  peccadilloes  of  any  youthful  lordling  must  necessarily 
magnify  into  unspeakable  vices  if  stumbled  into  by  wearers 
of  purple,  who  are  the  wicked  world's  mark  for  temptation. 

Frederick  married  to  please  his  father,  who  out-Mira- 
beaued  Mirabeau  pere  in  outrageous  misrule  of  his  son. 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

He  married  at  twenty-two  and  took  the  crown  at  twenty- 
eight.  Thenceforward  his  heart  went  out  to  strong  men, 
to  men  of  genius,  men  of  his  own  stamp,  men  and  not 
women.  For  the  last  half  of  his  reign  Frederick  dined 
with  his  amiable  consort;  when  they  met  at  table  the 
King  bowed  to  the  Queen  and  the  Queen  to  the  King, 
but  they  never  conversed.  He  paid  her  the  customary 
pretty  gift  courtesies  on  anniversary  days,  and  once  went 
to  her  room  to  tell  his  regrets  over  her  gouty  seizure, 
but  converse  they  never  did  all  those  years,  and  she  sur- 
vived him  by  eleven. 

The  Court  of  Frederick  had  its  full  sheaf  of  eight- 
eenth century  scandals.  His  relations,  his  henchmen,  the 
distinguished  writers,  musicians,  philosophers  (alas!)  had 
their  foibles  and  met  their  fascinating  fates  in  that  once 
upon  a  time  Liberty  Hall.  As  already  observed,  even  these 
small-beer  chronicles  have  their  legitimate  and  even  ad- 
mirable historical  uses.  The  flamboyant  schools  always 
paint  "  personages  "  posing  as  sublimities,  and  it  requires 
the  faithful  pencil  of  the  old  Dutch  realist  to  complete 
the  vraisemblance  to  life.  Frederick,  as  King  at  least,  was 
no  voluptuary.  Indeed  it  was  thought  an  act  of  pious 
duty  to  vindicate  his  memory  from  a  slander  of  the  most 
unlikely  kind,  by  making  a  post-mortem  examination  akin 
to  that  decreed  to  be  made  prior  to  the  election  of  each 
Pope.  He  was  first  and  last  a  soldier  and  a  martinet, 
afflicted  with  a  weakness  for  mistaking  feminine  grace 
for  insipidity  and  womanliness  as  either  wanton  or  prud- 
ish extremes.  He  showered  alternate  contempt  and  fe- 
rocious hatred  on  men  he  had  thought  were  proof  to 
sparkling  eyes.  And  yet,  no  court  more  than  his  was 
swayed  by  the  mysterious  influence  that  blows  where  it 
listeth  and  is  not  seen  until  its  work  is  virtually  done. 
These  secret  memoirs  are,  of  course,  excellent  reading, 
racy  of  the  temper  of  the  writer  and  of  his  subject  and 
the  times. 


CONTENTS 


PACK 
INTRODUCTION ix 

EDITOR'S  PREFACE i 

LETTER  I.     Recommends  the  Abb6  de  Perigord,  afterward  Prince 

de  Talleyrand 17 

LETTER  II.     Last  illness  of  Frederick  the  Great 20 

LETTER  III.    The  Duke    of    Brunswick,  his   public  and    private 

character 22 

LETTER  IV.     Prospects  in  the  event  of  the  King's  death     ....     30 

LETTER  V.  Talk  of  an  alliance  between  France,  England,  and 
Prussia.  The  King  dropsical,  but  will  not  give  up  his 
favorite  eel  pies 41 

LETTER  VI.    The  author  receives  a  snub  and  prepares  to  dissemble     44 

LETTER  VII.  Court  gossip;  Frederick  devotes  more  time  to  pine- 
apples than  politics 46 

LETTER  VIII.     Thinks  the   King  cannot  survive  longer  than  two 

months.     The  Heir  Apparent  and  Mademoiselle  Voss    ...    49 

LETTER  IX.     Rumor  that  the  King  of  Sweden  has  turned  Catholic ; 

Russian  intrigues 50 

LETTER  X.     The  King  very  unwilling  to  die ;  resents  the  mention  of 

dropsy 52 

LETTER  XI.     Erysipelas  and  gangrene  set  in 54 

LETTER  XII.     His  dangerously  voracious  appetite 55 

LETTER  XIII.  Uncertainties  as  to  the  policy  of  the  King-to-be; 
doubtful  if  he  has  system,  understanding,  or  character.  The 
old  King  eats  of  ten  or  twelve  highly  seasoned  dishes  at  dinner 
every  day 56 

LETTER  XIV.  Death  of  Frederick  the  Great ;  ate  a  lobster  a  few 
hours  before  the  end;  the  author's  efforts  to  forestall  the 
French  Ambassador  in  sending  the  news  by  pigeon  express  .  61 

LETTER  XV.     The  new  King  leans  toward  the  French    as  against 

the  English  system 65 

LETTER  XVI.  Prince  Henry  affirms  that  the  King  is  entirely 
French ;  the  will  of  Frederick  the  Great;  his  affection  for  his 
dogs ;  the  new  Ministry 68 

LETTER  XVII.     Character  sketch  of  Prince  Henry;  the  author  as 

diplomatist 73 

LETTER  XVIII.     The  King  reforms  his  habits,   does  not   look  at 

Mademoiselle  Voss ;  is  somewhat  penurious 76 

(xv) 


xvi  MIRABEAU'S   MEMOIRS 

PAGB 

LETTER  XIX.  His  favorites ;  Goltz  the  Tartar,  Boulet  the  honest, 

Goertz  the  able 80 

LETTER  XX.  Remonstrance  with  the  Due  de ;  Prince  Henry 

stranded  on  the  rock  of  vanity ;  a  strong  pica  for  friendly  ap- 
proaches to  the  King  by  the  French  government 83 

LETTER  XXI.  The  ' '  gallomania  "  of  Prince  Henry  is  prejudicing  the 
cause  of  France ;  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  the  coming  strong 
man ;  troubles  over  Holland ;  the  King  ennobles  his  son  by 
Madame  Rietz 87 

LETTER  XXII.  The  Duke  plays  with  Prince  Henry ;  a  Grand  Duchess 

Delilah ;  manceuvering  for  Russia's  friendship 94 

LETTER  XXIII.  Interment  of  Frederick  the  Great;  neither  in  taste 

nor  splendor  equal  to  state  funerals  in  Paris 100 

LETTER  XXIV.  Plea  for  more  active  and  shrewd  diplomacy  by 

France 103 

LETTER  XXV.     A  weak  ruler  and  intriguing  counselors     ....  105 

LETTER XXVI.  Stuterheim  and  Gudschmidt,  prudent  Ministers; 
qualifications  for  successful  diplomatists;  sketch  of  the  Elector 
of  Bavaria 107 

LETTER  XXVII.  Dufour,  exjourneyman  barber,  his  influence  over 

the  Heir  Apparent;  objections  to  an  Austro- Prussian  alliance.  112 

LETTER  XXVIII.  Frederick  the  Great,  his  long  defiance  of  a  disease 

which  would  have  killed  ten  men 116 

LETTER  XXIX.  Russia's  project  to  steal  a  march  on  India ;  possible 

alliance  between  France  and  England 119 

LETTER  XXX.  Social  blunder  of  a  clumsy  Princess ;  card-table  pre- 
cedence; the  gay  Madame  de  Vibraye 122 

LETTER  XXXI.  Homage  to  the  new  King ;  mischief-making  amateur 

diplomatists ;  brawls  and  jealousy  from  Madame  Rietz  .  .  .131 

LETTER  XXXII.  King  Frederick  William's  violent  temper;  plays 

the  violoncello ;  an  out-and-out  German 137 

LETTER  XXXIII.  An  undesirable  representative;  Austria  strong 

but  weakly  governed 143 

LETTER  XXXIV.  The  author's  laborious  efforts  to  collect  trust- 
worthy information ;  reported  accident  to  the  King ;  growing 
power  of  the  Duke 146 

LETTER  XXXV.  Concerning  Holland,  Austria,  and  Russia;  the 

Duke  of  York,  a  character  sketch ;  English  insolence  .  .  .152 

LETTER  XXXVI.  The  case  of  the  unfortunate  Lieut  CoL  Szekely; 

sentenced  and  pardoned 159 

LETTER  XXXVII.  The  Duke  hopes  France  will  act  to  prevent  war 

by  Holland ;  significant  conversation  with  the  Duke  ....  167 

LETTER  XXXVIII.  The  Duke  meditates  the  building  of  a  German 

empire ;  the  King  hastens  to  Mademoiselle  Voss 174 

LETTER  XXXIX.  Secret  orgies  of  the  King;  does  not  hate  the 

French,  does  not  love  any  nation;  triumph  of  the  Lady  Voss  .  179 

LETTER  XL.  Downfall  of  Count  Herzberg ;  Lannay,  finance  minis- 
ter, retires ;  possibility  of  the  Duke  going  over  to  the  Emperor.  185 


CONTENTS  xvii 

PAQB 

LETTER  XLI.  On  French  finance  and  the  commercial  treaty  with 

England 190 

LETTER  XLII.  Quarrels  in  the  royal  household ;  Madame  Rietz  and 
Mademoiselle  Voss ;  the  Empress  of  Russia  said  to  drink  too 
much  champagne 194 

LETTER  XLIII.  Empress  Catherine  II.  a  model  of  sobriety ;  secret 

suppers  in  the  King's  palace 194 

LETTER  XLIV.  The  King  rises  early;  his  Court  an  Augean  stable 

without  a  Hercules ;  Prussian  power  rotten  before  ripe  .  .  .  204 

LETTER  XLV.  Honors  to  the  son  of  a  cookmaid ;  Anhalt  threatens 

to  go  over  to  the  Emperor ;  the  baboon-like  Voss 209 

LETTER  XLVI.  Mirabeau's  aspect  terrifies  the  court;  is  crippled 

pecuniarily;  hopes  for  the  Anglo-French  alliance 216 

LETTER  XLVII.  A  scheming  woman  uses  the  author  to  aid  her 
siege  of  the  King;  suspects  her  as  the  go-between  of  Ma- 
demoiselle Voss ;  the  shade  of  Caesar  at  a  supper  ....  220 

LETTER  XLVI1I.  The  King  faithful  to  his  old  friends;  soldiers' 
coats  that  shrank  skin-tight ;  army  aristocrats  and  morals ;  the 
King  withdraws  a  threatened  tax 224 

LETTER  XLIX.  Fear  of  a  coalition  between  Austria  and  Prussia; 

the  King's  debts ;  the  questionable  Madame  de  F .  .  231 

LETTER  L.  Discontent  of  the  army;  the  tobacco  monopoly;  free 

speech  in  peril ;  the  divorced  consort  of  the  King  ....  236 

LETTER  LI.  Industry  and  commerce  in  Prussia;  urges  the  natural 
force  of  reciprocity  between  France  and  England ;  indolence 
of  the  King ;  a  plea  for  La  Grange 243 

LETTER  LIL  A  mysterious  messenger ;  Baron  Nold6,  a  friend  of 
France;  a  left-handed  marriage  for  Mademoiselle  Voss;  the 
King's  four  sorts  of  children;  rascally  courtiers  .  .  .  .251 

LETTER  LIII.  The  King  and  his  ministers,  meddling  and  muddling ; 

the  mystics  in  favor ;  manuscripts  of  Frederick  the  Great .  .  261 

LETTER  LIV.  Character  of  the  King,  deceitful,  vain,  avaricious; 
the  leading  courtiers  libertines,  shallow  flatterers,  and  adven- 
turers   267 

LETTER  LV.  The  Queen  bribed  to  consent  to  the  King's  marriage 
with  Mademoiselle  Voss ;  prodigal  yet  not  generous ;  building 
at  Potsdam 275 

LETTER  LVI.  Sketch  of  the  King's  officers;  new  taxes  imposed, 
the  King  orders  his  subjects  to  be  numbered ;  the  ladies  Rietz 
and  Voss  and  the  screen  scene 278 

LETTER  LVII.  The  cup  of  Circe  filled  with  beer;  the  magic  of  a 

yellow  riband;  court  snarls;  troubles  in  the  silk  trade  .  .  284 

LETTER  LVIII.  Madame  Rietz  asks  for  an  estate ;  Corporal  Schlag; 
Prince  Henry  discouraged;  the  kingdom  neglected  because 
the  King  is  in  love 290 

LETTER  LIX.  The  peculiarities  of  Count  Nostitz ;  Madame  Rietz 

wants  a  Margraviate ;  gambling  forbidden ;  the  land  question  .  295 


xviii  MIRABEAU'S   MEMOIRS 

PAGE 

LETTER  LX.  The  Queen  blind  to  her  husband's  amours ;  the  Prince 
Royal  an  echo  of  Frederick  the  Great ;  unfair  treatment  of 
Launay ;  pays  a  debt  incurred  by  Frederick  the  Great  when 
Prince  301 

LETTER  LXI.  Miscellaneous  distribution  of  honors;  the  question- 
able marriage  deferred ;  memorial  against  the  capitation  tax  .  306 

LETTER  LXII.  The  Dutch  envoy  makes  overtures  to  Mirabeau; 
delicate  position  of  affairs  between  France,  Prussia,  and  Hol- 
land; hopeless  confusion  around  the  King 314 

LETTER  LXIII.  Affairs  in  Russia;  more  gossip  about  the  sus- 
pended marriage ;  difficulty  of  suppressing  lotto ;  Launay  de- 
parts incognito 325 

LETTER  LXIV.  Gambling  with  Poland;  Frederick  the  Great  ne- 
gotiates a  loan  by  the  gift  of  a  smoked  salmon;  Voltaire 
expected  a  famous  diamond  and  got  a  keg  of  wine ;  Mirabeau 
demands  adequate  recognition  of  his  services 330 

LETTER  LXV.  A  Sans  Souci  house  for  Mademoiselle  Voss ;  pros- 
pects of  her  growing  power ;  smuggling  the  King  into  heaven 
under  the  bishop's  coat  tail 338 

LETTER  LXVI.     Mirabeau's  final   letter;  endowing    Mademoiselle 

Voss ;  new  taxes  on  cards,  wines,  oysters,  etc. ;  the  outlook    .  345 

APPENDIX.  Memorial  presented  to  Frederick  William  II.,  King  of 
Prussia,  on  the  Day  of  his  Accession  to  the  Throne,  by  Comte 
de  Mirabeau. 

This  was  published  as  the  author's  reply  to  the  accusation 
of  having  "presented  the  reigning  King  of  Prussia  with  a 
libel  against  the  immortal  Frederick  II." 353-85 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

To   "THE   SECRET    HISTORY   OF    THE   COURT    OF    BERLIN,* 

AND    TO    THE    <(  KEY  W    OF    THAT    HlSTORY. 

MIRABEAU,  exiled  to  Prussia  on  a  secret  mission,  has 
left  behind  him,  in  the  following  work,  a  curious 
account  of  his  sojourn  at  the  Court  of  Frederick 
the  Great.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  these  letters 
were  addressed  to  Calonne. 

The  last  moments  of  Frederick  are  therein  depicted  in 
a  vivid  and  lifelike  manner,  and  every  portrait  that  Mira- 
beau  essayed  to  paint  bears  the  mark  of  a  master's  hand. 
However,  Frederick  dies,  and  the  writer  has  no  longer 
anything  but  low  intrigues  to  depict,  as  he  is  now  sur- 
rounded only  by  little  men  and  little  interests. 

If  he  is  reproached  with  including  in  this  work  several 
scandalous  revelations,  it  must  be  remembered  that  (<  The 
Secret  History  "  was  never  intended  to  see  the  light  of 
day,  and  that  it  was  quite  contrary  to  the  author's  wishes 
that  it  was  published.  It  was  also  in  direct  opposition 
to  his  wishes  that  the  * Lettres  &  Sophie,*  and  others  of 
his  productions,  were  issued. 

The  manuscript  of  (<  The  Secret  History n  was  stolen, 
sold  to  Malassis,  a  printer  of  Alengon,  and  published  by 
him  as  a  work  by  an  unknown  traveler  who  had  died 
about  a  year  previously  in  a  village  in  Germany.  Twenty 
thousand  copies  of  the  book  were  speedily  disposed  of. 

The  original  manuscript,  in  Mirabeau's  handwriting, 
remained  in  the  printer's  possession,  and  great  care  was 
taken  that,  in  every  edition  issued  by  him,  all  the  names 
and  certain  passages  were  suppressed  and  indicated  by 
asterisks  only.  Unfortunately,  the  manuscript  was  sub- 
sequently burned.  M.  Dubois-du-Desert,  who  had  the 
privilege  of  inspecting  this  manuscript  before  its  destruc- 
tion, has  communicated  to  us  all  the  names,  of  which  he 
had  taken  a  note.  This  it  is  that  is  known  as  the  "  Key  M 
*  (0 


2  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

to  <(The  Secret  History. J>  A  very  small  number  of  the 
names  have  been  lost,  and  it  is  impossible  for  us,  after 
this  long  interval,  to  repair  these  omissions. 

The  following  are  some  appropriate  reflections  included 
in  the  Preface,  written  by  M.  Brissot-Thivars,  for  the 
edition  of  1821 : 

<(  The  ministerial  modesty,  which  so  easily  reconciled 
itself  to  the  secret  picture  of  the  licentiousness  of  a 
neighboring  Court,  grew  much  alarmed  at  the  prospect 
of  a  similar  picture  of  their  own  Court  being  exhibited 
to  the  public  gaze.  The  Government  received  orders  to 
confiscate  the  book,  and  to  prosecute  the  author,  who 
had  disappeared  under  an  anonymous  name.  Meanwhile 
the  public  were  much  rejoiced  at  the  ill  humor  displayed 
by  the  Court. 

"  The  Etats-Ge'ne'raux  were  convoked,  the  nobility  re- 
pulsed Mirabeau,  the  Commons  welcomed  him  with  open 
arms,  and  the  privileged  classes  heaped  insults  and  abuse 
upon  the  author  of  ( The  Secret  History.  * w 

Among  the  most  noticeable  pamphlets  issued  at  this 
period,  was  one  entitled  (<  L '  Examen  politique  et  critique 
de  /'  Histoire  secrete  de  la  Cour  de  Berlin*  par  Fre'de'ric, 
Huron  de  Trenck* 

<(  The  Baron  de  Trenck  was  a  Prussian,  and  had,  there- 
fore, some  right  to  enter  the  lists.  It  was  also  to  his 
interest  to  do  so,  as  for  some  time  he  had  been  in  bad 
odor  with  his  Government,  and  he  was  only  too  re- 
joiced to  purchase  his  pardon  by  breaking  a  lance  in 
honor  of  his  country. 

w  Mirabeau  pretends  that  the  Prussians  are  a  dull  people. 
The  Baron  de  Trenck  admits  that  this  is  the  case;  but, 
he  adds,  they  are  so  systematically. 

(<  Mirabeau  hints  that  the  two  sons  of  Prince  Ferdi- 
nand are  really  the  sons  of  the  Comte  de  Schmettau.  The 
Baron  de  Trenck  replies  that  he  has  closely  examined 
the  children  of  Princess  Ferdinand.  (They  are,'  he  says, 
*  destined  to  occupy  glorious  positions  in  the  House  of 

* «  Political  and  Critical  Examination  of  the  Secret  History  of  the 
Court  of  Berlin, »  by  Frederic,  Baron  de  Trenck.  A  thick  8vo  volume. 
The  Baron  de  Trenck  was  known  by  his  misfortunes  and  by  his  sundry 
writings. 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE  3 

Brandenburg-.  I  would  never  guarantee,*  he  adds,  'the 
birth  of  any  man ;  all  that  I  can  certify  is  that  he  is  the 
son  of  a  man.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that,  in  certain  Euro- 
pean royal  families,  they  will  act  as  they  do  in  England 
toward  the  race  horses.  It  is  unnecessary  and  absurd 
to  try  and  discover  who  are  the  fathers  of  the  kings  who 
rule  over  us.  It  is  often  much  better  that  they  owe 
their  existence  to  wise  and  vigorous  plebeians  than  to 
a  self-styled  "  noble w  race,  which  is  in  no  way  superior 
to  others,  save  by  an  opinion  based  upon  absurd  prej- 
udices. I  heartily  congratulate  Prince  Ferdinand  on  be- 
ing the  head  of  so  interesting  a  family. * 

<(  Mirabeau,  having  related  some  amorous  scenes  of 
Frederick  William,  the  Baron  gravely  examines  the  two 
following  questions: 

<(  i .  Is  it  true  that  the  King  of  Prussia  is  fond  of 
women?  Nobody  doubts  it. 

<(  2.  Is  this  a  crime  in  a  king?  William,  in  love,  is 
capable  of  a  tender  attachment.  He  understands  how 
to  value  his  mistress.  Refined  and  sensitive,  it  is  by 
the  personal  interest  that  he  inspires,  that  he  endeavors 
to  find  favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  woman  he  loves.  He 
puts  aside  all  rank  and  power.  It  is  solely  for  himself 
that  he  would  win  the  lady's  affection.  Mademoiselle  de 
Voss  resisted  his  wooing  during  twenty  months.  The 
tardy  gratification  of  his  desires  did  not  cool  his 
passion.  In  the  present  condition  of  Prussia  the  King 
may  prefer  the  myrtles  of  Cupid  to  the  laurels  of  Mars. 

<(  Did  the  reputation  of  Baron  de  Trenck  re-estab- 
lish Frederick  William  and  the  Prince  Ferdinand  —  the 
one  in  his  paternal  rights,  and  the  other  in  the  re- 
spect and  veneration  which  a  virtuous  monarch  has  the  right 
to  expect  from  his  subjects?  We  do  not  think  it  did.  It 
appears  to  us,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  will  remain 
proved  that  Mirabeau  had  correctly  observed,  and  that  he 
stated  the  truth,  since  his  adversary  is  reduced  to  rep- 
resenting concubinage  and  adultery  as  the  accustomed 
pastime  of  the  nobility  and  as  the  legitimate  resource  of  a 
monarch.  Mirabeau's  statements,  therefore,  must  have 
been  based  largely  on  facts,  since  there  did  not  exist 
any  other  means  of  extenuating  the  scandal. 


4  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

w  In  the  absence  of  logic  and  reason,  Baron  de  Trenck 
had  recourse  to  abuse  of  Mirabeau,  whom  he  vilified  as 
an  impostor  and  a  spy.  Such  insults,  however,  proved 
nothing;  and,  even  at  the  present  time,  there  are  those 
who  firmly  believe  in  the  truth  of  Mirabeau's  asser- 
tions.* 

"At  the  date  of  the  publication  of  'The  Secret  His- 
tory,' time  had  strongly  confirmed  nearly  all  of  Mira- 
beau's predictions  —  the  invasion  of  Holland,  the  ridiculous 
combinations  of  the  French  Cabinet,  etc.,  at  the  present 
day  —  after  a  lapse  of  thirty  years.  Some  personages 
who  are  still  living  are  attacked;  for  instance,  he  says, 
*  The  Duke  of  York  arrived  here  this  evening.  This 
Duke  is  a  great  sportsman,  fond  of  laughter,  but  with- 
out grace,  deportment,  or  politeness;  and,  judging  from 
external  appearances,  he  possesses  many  of  the  moral 
and  physical  features  of  the  Due  de  Luynes.  I  do  not 
think  that  there  is  any  question  of  his  marriage  with 
Princess  Caroline  of  Brunswick,  who  is  very  amiable,  in- 
tellectual, handsome,  and  vivacious.  *  w 

The  Princess  Caroline,  who  was  married  in  1759  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  was  divorced  after  he  had  become  King 
of  England. 

"  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  Mirabeau  was 
sometimes  mistaken  in  his  judgments.  He  judged  man- 
kind; and,  for  good  or  for  evil,  the  human  species  is 
subject  to  variations.  Time  and  education  modify  the 
character,  and  alter  the  inclinations.  The  horoscope  that 
Mirabeau  cast  of  the  Prince  Royal  of  Prussia,  the  pres- 
ent reigning  monarch,  was  it  realized  ?  Did  that  Prince 
resuscitate  the  great  Frederick  ?  w 

Mirabeau  recommends  1'Abbe"  de  Pe"rigord  to  M.  de 
Calonne.  <(  L'Abbe"  de  PeYigord,  *  he  says,  ®  combines  a 
talent  of  a  rare  order  and  great  experience  with  a  pro- 
found circumspection  and  an  unfailing  secrecy.  It  would 
be  impossible  for  you  to  choose  a  man  who  is  more 

*  In  all  matters  apart  from  the  Prussian  monarchy,  or  Ministry,  and 
any  facts  relating  to  either,  Baron  de  Trenck  renders  full  justice  to 
Mirabeau;  he  even  admits  the  accuracy  of  Mirabeau's  estimate  of 
political  affairs,  and  of  his  profound  knowledge  of  the  actual  state 
of  Europe. 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE  5 

anxious  to  do  good,  and  who  would  be  more  eager  to 
show  his  gratitude.*  Prince  de  Talleyrand,  before  the 
Revolution,  bore  the  name  of  I'Abbt  de  Ptrigord. 

Among  the  curious  facts  relating  to  this  work,  we  should 
not  omit  to  give  a  copy  of  the  Decree  ordering  it  to  be 
burned.  We  reproduce  this  document  as  an  example  of 
the  jurisprudence  of  the  period. 

(<  Decree  of  the  Court  of  Parliament,  the  Chambers  as- 
sembled, the  Peers  being  present,  condemning  a  printed 
book  entitled:  <The  Secret  History  of  the  Court  of  Ber- 
lin ;  or,  the  Correspondence  of  a  French  Traveler  *  (Comte 
de  Mirabeau,  D/pute"  de  la  Se'ne'chausse'e  d'  Aix  aux  £tats- 
Ge'ne'raux),  to  be  torn  and  burned  by  the  Public  Execu- 
tioner. ® 

EXTRACT    FROM    THE    PARLIAMENTARY    REGISTER    OF    THE 
IOTH   OF   FEBRUARY,    1789. 

"This  day  the  Court,  the  Chambers  assembled,  the 
Peers  being  present,  and  the  King's  representatives  being 
admitted,  M.  Antoine  Louis  Se"guier,  Advocate  to  the 
King,  opened  the  proceedings  in  the  following  words:  — 

*  *  GENTLEMEN,  — Justly  indignant  at  the  impression  pro- 
duced by  a  libel  as  surprising  as  it  is  atrocious,  the  King, 
in  placing  in  our  hands  the  two  printed  works  which  we 
have  brought  before  you,  relies  upon  the  vigilance  of  the 
Ministry  to  denounce  and  condemn  them. 

*  *  This  libel,  which  has  spread  itself  through  the  Capi- 
tal, has   already   caused    the    greatest    sensation.     It   has 
been  received  with  a  cry  of   indignation,  the  public  ver- 
dict   has   been   given,  and  this  work  of  darkness  has  al- 
ready been  stamped  with  the  seal  of  universal  reprobation. 

"  ( It  is  within  the  rights  of  Justice  to  proscribe,  with 
the  strongest  qualifications,  a  correspondence  which  the 
author  seeks  to  disown  by  announcing  it  as  the  secret 
agent  of  a  minister  who  wishes  to  remain  unknown.  In 
denouncing  this  clandestine  work,  therefore,  we  propose 
to  proceed  against  both  the  author  and  the  printer,  if  it 
is  possible  to  discover  them. 

"  ' You  will  doubtless  feel  some  surprise  that  our  Min- 
istry, so  long  a  dumb  recipient  of  the  complaints  addressed 


6  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

to  it  by  all  the  Orders  of  the  State,  was  not  to  be 
awakened  out  of  its  voluntary  inaction,  excepting  by  the 
command  of  the  King  himself.  But  at  this  critical 
moment,  when  every  day  sees  some  fresh  production, 
alternately  extravagant  and  wise,  violent  and  moderate, 
circumspect  and  licentious,  dictated  by  party  spirit  and 
inspired  by  patriotism;  in  this  universal  madness,  when 
the  indefinite  liberty  of  the  Press  distributes  with  equal 
profusion  the  fruits  of  knowledge,  of  ignorance,  and  of 
frenzy;  in  this  total  inversion  of  principles,  it  required 
nothing  less  than  an  order  emanating  from  the  Throne 
to  decide  us  to  fulfill  those  functions  which  would  be 
indispensable  under  all  other  circumstances,  but  which  it 
seemed  to  us  prudent  to  suspend,  in  the  midst  of  the 
fanaticism  of  opinions.  There  are  moments  when,  by  a 
kind  of  public  discretion,  or  decency,  the  magistrate 
should  not  consult  the  oracle  of  the  Law. 

* ( There  is  no  need  for  dissimulation  on  our  part,  and 
we  regard  with  an  unfeeling  eye  the  product  of  resent- 
ment and  vengeance.  The  past  is  a  guarantee  for  the 
future.  We  have  no  fear  in  making  this  avowal  in  the 
presence  of  magistrates  who,  while  demanding  the  legiti- 
mate liberty  of  the  Press,  are  very  far  from  countenanc- 
ing the  publication  of  the  deluge  of  anonymous  sheets,  and 
the  seditious  and  scandalous  pamphlets,  with  which  France 
is  inundated.  Tolerance  degenerates  into  abuse,  impunity 
encourages  license,  and  license  has  reached  its  last  stage. 
Nothing  is  respected;  rank,  position,  services  rendered 
are  forgotten ;  the  nobles,  and  even  crowned  heads  them- 
selves, become  objects  of  derision  and  satire.  The  evil 
is  so  widespread  that  one  fears  to  augment  the  epidemic 
in  attempting  to  stay  its  progress. 

w<  The  slightest  prohibition  of  a  work  is  sufficient  to 
make  the  author  celebrated,  to  accelerate  its  sale,  at 
double  the  original  price,  and  to  give  a  wider  publicity 
to  imposture  and  calumny. 

<<(  The  work  which  we  are  now  denouncing  was  not 
written  with  the  intention  of  still  further  fertilizing  the 
germs  of  discord  which  are  already  too  much  scattered 
throughout  the  kingdom,  but  it  is  of  a  nature  likely  to 
influence  the  reception,  and  the  mode  of  existence,  of  the 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE  7 

French  nobility  at  foreign  Courts;  and  far  from  confirm* 
ing  the  high  opinion  which  it  has  always  gained  for  its 
generosity,  far  from  being  characterized  by  that  frank 
and  loyal  spirit  of  ancient  chivalry,  which  led  it  on  to 
honor  and  glory,  this  vile  and  infamous  production  can- 
not but  inspire  the  strongest  prejudice  against  a  people 
at  once  polite,  natural,  complaisant,  and  quick  to  famil- 
iarize itself  wherever  it  finds  an  opportunity  of  displaying 
its  wit,  or  of  captivating  hearts  by  the  charm  of  that 
sociability  which  distinguishes  it  from  the  other  European 
nations. 

(<<This  work,  in  two  volumes,  is  entitled:  "The  Secret 
History  of  the  Court  of  Berlin;  or,  Correspondence  of  a 
French  Traveler,  from  the  month  of  July,  1786,  until 
the  ipth  January,  1787.  Posthumous  work,  1789;"  with- 
out the  names  of  either  author  or  printer,  or  the  place 
where  printed. 

(<<This  title  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  author  was 
no  longer  in  existence,  and  that  the  work  was  therefore 
published  without  his  knowledge  or  consent;  but  suppos- 
ing, as  the  title-page  states,  that  the  Secret  History  is  the 
result  of  observations  made  by  a  writer  who  had  ceased 
to  exist,  if  it  has  taken  two  entire  years  to  print  and 
distribute  a  work  of  this  nature,  is  it  not  obvious  that 
the  publisher  is  even  more  culpable  than  the  author,  since 
he  has  given  publicity  to  a  correspondence  written  under 
the  seal  of  confidence,  and  which,  therefore,  was  never 
intended  to  become  a  means  of  defamation,  or  to  supply 
food  for  the  scandal  mongers  ? 

(<  ( The  period  at  which  this  Secret  History  commences 
will  be  forever  memorable  in  the  annals  of  Germany. 
The  short  space  of  time  which  it  includes  was  full  of 
events  likely  to  affect  the  policy  of  many  a  monarchy. 
Frederick  II.,  whose  name  alone  was  sufficient  to  pre- 
serve that  balance  of  power  which  assured  to  Europe 
general  peace  and  happiness,  Frederick  still  reigned;  but 
this  Prince  was  fast  declining,  and  his  power  and  fame, 
which  did  not  abandon  him  during  life,  seemed  to  await 
him  even  at  the  tomb. 

«  ( It  was  at  this  moment  that  the  self-styled  *  Voyageur 
fran^ais*  endeavored  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the 


8  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

greatest  personages  of  the  State,  in  order  to  gather  any 
stray  scraps  of  conversation,  and  to  endeavor,  in  the 
midst  of  the  trouble  and  commotion  caused  by  the  un- 
foreseen changes  of  a  new  ruler  to  surprise  ministerial 
secrets,  to  detect  the  aims  and  ambitions  of  the  nobles, 
to  expose  the  intrigues  of  courtesans,  and  to  fathom  the 
plots  of  the  Court. 

*  *  If  one  is  to  believe  this  disguised  observer,  his  abil- 
ity surmounts  all    obstacles.     He   is    at    once   welcomed, 
and,  far  from  being  suspected,  he  seems  to  have  obtained 
almost  general  confidence.     Princes  treat  him  with  kind- 
ness ;  the  Ministers  put  him  in  possession  of  State  secrets ; 
the  nobles  admit  him  into  their  society ;  the  political  veil 
is  rent  asunder  for  his  benefit ;  Frederick  dies ;  Frederick 
William  succeeds  him;    the  army  has  not   yet  taken   the 
oath    of   allegiance,    and    yet   this    attentive  politician   is 
aware  of  the  spirit,  the  character,   and   the   resources   of 
those    in   authority.      The   plan   of   administration   is   no 
longer  a  mystery,  and  even  the  King  himself,    who   sus- 
pects his  mission,  does  not  take  offense   at  his  assiduity 
or  his  liaisons. 

a  'After  having  explained  the  system  upon  which  the 
correspondence  would  be  based;  after  having  explained 
the  sources  from  which  he  proposes  to  draw  his  informa- 
tion; in  fact,  after  having  exposed  his  relations  and  his 
intimacy  with  the  principal  members  of  the  Royal  Fam- 
ily, the  first  object  with  which  the  author  has  thought  it 
his  duty  to  concern  himself  is  the  panegyric  on  the  King 
which  Prussia  has  just  lost.  He  eulogizes  that  great  man. 
and  he  is  nearly  the  only  person  of  whom  he  speaks 
highly,  or  even  of  whom  he  does  not  speak  ill,  in  a 
Secret  History  which  has  no  other  authenticity  than  that 
of  the  observations,  estimates,  and  the  combinations,  true 
or  false,  of  a  writer  who  possessed  neither  title  nor  qual- 
ification. 

•  *  And  how  was  it  that  he  did  not  render  to  Frederick 
II.  the  justice  that  was  his  due?     Worthy  of  the  admiration 
of  his  century,  our  soldiers  were  sent  to  be  instructed  in 
his  schools,  to  study  his   manoeuvers  and   his   evolutions, 
and,    above    all,    his    military   discipline,    in   the  hope  of 
transferring  to  France  some  portion  of  that  genius  which 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE  9 

had  founded  a  new  school  of  tactics,  and  which  had,  in 
some  sort,  revolutionized  the  art  of  war.  Amid  the  hom- 
age which  truth  sometimes  forces  from  this  mysterious 
correspondent,  one  discovers  reproaches  against  the  mem- 
ory of  the  greatest  man  in  Europe;  but,  notwithstanding 
this  critical  observer  and  his  remarks,  his  reflections  and 
his  criticisms,  Frederick,  the  friend  of  science  and  the 
protector  of  literature,  legislator  and  philosopher,  pro- 
found politician  and  indefatigable  warrior,  combined  in 
his  person,  and  displayed  on  his  throne,  all  the  gifts  of  a 
hero  and  a  king.  His  name,  even  before  his  death,  was 
inscribed  in  the  temple  of  Immortality. 

<(  ( Why  did  not  the  author  of  this  correspondence  show 
the  same  respect  for  a  prince  of  the  same  blood,  animated 
by  the  same  spirit,  and  endowed  with  the  same  talents  ? 
Did  not  Prince  Henry  prove  himself  to  be  a  general 
worthy  of  commanding  his  august  brother,  to  second  his 
views,  and  to  execute  his  projects  ?  Frederick  himself, 
on  learning  of  his  success,  could  not  suppress  a  feeling 
of  rivalry.  The  greatest  generals  and  the  most  famous 
captains  are  sometimes  at  fault;  the  ablest  have  their 
reverses.  Alone  exempt  from  the  common  destiny  of 
mankind,  fortune  seems,  in  his  case,  to  have  renounced 
its  natural  inconsistency,  or,  rather,  the  experience  of 
Prince  Henry  enabled  him  to  control  the  caprices  of  for- 
tune, and  to  fix  the  victory  under  his  standard.  Could 
we  but  examine  here  the  witnesses  of  his  brave  deeds, 
the  companions  of  his  glory,  the  only  true  judges  of  his 
merit,  they  would  say,  with  one  voice,  that,  gentle  and 
affable  in  the  ever)rday  affairs  of  life,  intrepid  and  at 
ease  in  action,  humane  and  compassionate  after  the  com- 
bat, by  a  most  happy  accord  of  the  most  eminent  quali- 
ties, he  combined  the  activity  of  Hannibal,  the  prudence 
of  Fabius,  and  the  wisdom  of  Scipio. 

"  '  But  is  it  necessary  for  us  to  call  witnesses  to  prove 
the  bravery  and  genius  of  a  prince  whose  name  is  re- 
vered by  both  officers  and  soldiers  ?  It  is  for  the  French 
army  to  avenge  the  insults.  A  magistrate,  a  friend  of 
peace,  is  not  the  proper  man  to  pronounce  his  eulogy; 
and  the  Minister  of  Justice  would  hardly  dare  to  add  his 
voice  to  the  general  acclamations  of  this  celebrated  Prince. 


jo  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

(<  ( One  is  tempted  to  believe  that,  from  the  midst  of 
his  <( nebulous  position,®  the  author  has  taken  upon  him- 
self to  open  the  flood  gates  of  his  malice  nnd  animosity 
on  all  those  whose  positions  and  characters  are  above 
suspicion,  and  who  are  worthy  of  his  respect.  It  is  not 
enough  to  have  showered  invectives  on  the  uncle  of  the 
new  King,  the  King  himself,  his  august  family,  the 
princesses  of  the  blood,  and  the  Ministry;  in  fact 
the  whole  Court  is  treated  with  such  a  criminal  inde- 
cency, that  we  should  blush  to  repeat  the  infamous  ex- 
pressions of  which  the  author  has  made  use. 

*  *  His  (<  amphibious  existence  w  enables  him  sometimes 
to  wander  from  his  native  land ;  his  imagination  trans- 
ports him  to  far  distant  countries,  to  Austria,  to  Poland, 
and  to  the  northernmost  lands ;  and  it  is  always  with  the 
same  culpable  purpose  of  collecting  fresh  horrors,  of 
filling  his  correspondence  with  untruthful  statements, 
and  to  circulate  with  his  discoveries  the  blackest  calum- 
nies. 

(<  ( What  opinion  can  one  form  of  this  Secret  History, 
which  is  even  more  abominable  than  that  of  the  his- 
torian, Procopius,  who,  when  criticising  an  emperor,  did 
at  least  refer  to  his  merits  as  well  as  his  demerits?  It 
presents  us  with  nothing  but  a  collection  of  shameful 
impostures,  highly  improbable  and  easily  invented,  more 
for  the  purpose  of  gratifying  the  mania  of  the  author, 
than  for  attracting  the  curiosity  of  the  reader  in  search 
of  knowledge. 

w  ( It  is  a  collection  of  portraits  in  which  the  artist's 
imagination  is  largely  predominant.  His  hand  has  mixed 
the  colors  with  the  bitter  spleen  with  which  his  brush 
was  already  filled;  and,  if  we  are  told  that  he  painted 
his  subjects  as  they  appeared  to  him,  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  his  prejudiced  eye  enveloped  them  in 
that  shade  in  which  he  was  himself  obscured. 

" ( It  is  an  assemblage  of  reflections  based  indiscrimi- 
nately upon  malicious  conversations,  upon  lying  reports, 
upon  fictitious  secrets,  and  upon  allegations  which  have 
since  been  proved  untrue.  All  these  have  been  written 
down  without  thought  or  hesitation,  and  the  author  has 
no  fear  in  asserting  that  they  are  veritable  facts,  because 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE  u 

it  was  the  only  return  he  could  make  for  the  treatment 
he  received,  of  the  mediocrity  of  which  he  is  constantly 
complaining. 

<(  *  It  is  most  unfortunate  to  possess  great  talent  when 
one  has  not  sufficient  force  of  character  to  apply  it  to 
good  purposes.  If  the  corruption  of  the  soul  stifle  the 
sentiment  of  honor  and  the  cry  of  conscience,  genius  is 
a  disastrous  gift  from  Nature.  What  are  we  to  think  of 
a  writer  who  voluntarily  adopts  the  role  of  anonymous 
accuser;  who  settles  himself  in  a  foreign  Court  with  that 
frankness,  that  ease,  that  amenity,  which  leads  to  the 
forming  of  liaisons;  and  who,  ere  long,  abusing  the  sen- 
timents which  he  had  inspired,  dares  to  reveal  particu- 
lars which  he  has  learned  in  the  most  intimate  confidence ; 
who  dares  to  slander  all  those  who  have  received  him  with 
kindness,  dares  to  make  insinuations  and  suggestions  con- 
cerning them  which  are  entirely  unjustifiable;  and  who 
even  carries  his  audacity  to  the  length  of  insulting,  with 
a  brutal  cynicism,  those  whose  station  is  so  greatly  above 
that  of  this  *  agent  subalterne*  (for  so  he  styles  himself) 
that  it  is  difficult  to  place  any  confidence  in  his  asser- 
tions ;  because,  if  they  were  true,  his  relations  with  peo- 
ple of  rank  must  have  been  most  intimate  —  in  fact,  they 
must  have  treated  him  as  an  equal  ?  Again,  what  man 
would  wish  to  expose  himself  before  his  equal  ?  The 
nobles  may  lay  aside  their  rank  in  their  own  households; 
it  is  frequently  necessary  for  them  to  do  so.  But  a  king, 
or  prince,  or  a  man  of  dignity,  always  knows  how  to 
respect  himself  before  a  stranger;  should  any  familiari- 
ties or  confidences  be  accorded  to  him,  it  is  done  with 
suspicion  and  is  but  temporary. 

(<  *  What  must  have  been  the  result,  therefore,  when  this 
stranger  himself  admits  that  he  is  regarded  as  a  spy  ? 
And  if  he  is  suspected  of  wishing  to  find  out  the  secrets 
of  the  Government,  would  not  a  wise  circumspection  sug- 
gest the  advisability  of  deceiving  him  by  making  a  pre- 
tense of  that  confidence  which  he  is  so  eager  to  abuse  ? 

<(  *  Let  us  suppose,  nevertheless,  that  the  author,  de- 
ceived by  fnlse  reports  or  by  feigned  contrivances, 
believed  that  he  was  really  a  witness  of  all  that  he  in- 
serted in  his  correspondence :  the  entire  work  would  still 


12  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

be  a  violation  of  the  Law  of  Nations,  an  abuse  of  hospi- 
tality, an  infamy  the  more  unpardonable  in  that  familiar- 
ity was  with  him  but  the  cloak  of  perfidiousness,  and 
that  the  closest  friendship  became  the  instrument  of 
treachery. 

w  *  These  reflections  lead  necessarily  to  the  pronounce- 
ment of  judgment  both  upon  the  author  of  this  pretended 
posthumous  work  and  upon  itself.  And,  in  the  first  place, 
it  is  by  simple  and  by  sure  rules  that  the  author  may  be 
judged  without  error. 

<(  *  Has  he  placed  himself  beyond  the  laws  of  honor  and 
probity  ?  Has  he  gone  beyond  the  bounds  of  decency  ? 
Has  he  so  far  forgotten  himself  as  to  violate  public 
morality  ?  Has  he  been  wanting  in  that  respect  of  which 
the  French  are  ever  ready  to  accord  the  most  touching 
proofs  to  their  King, — respect  impelled  as  much  by  love 
as  by  duty,  but  respect  that  every  Frenchman  owes  to 
other  nations,  whether  they  are  friends  or  enemies  of 
France;  which  every  man  owes  to  other  men,  and  which 
every  one  owes  to  himself  ?  This  writer  has  an  unruly 
spirit.  His  natural  perversity  makes  him  rash,  violent, 
and  passionate;  and,  after  having  broken  down  all  the 
barriers  that  prudence  opposes  to  his  license,  he  only 
brings  trouble  and  remorse  into  the  hearts  of  those  who 
are  unfortunate  enough  to  allow  themselves  to  be  en- 
trapped by  his  fables,  his  lies,  and  his  calumnies. 

«  <  We  are,  nevertheless,  bound  to  admit  that,  if  this 
unknown  author  only  fulfilled  the  particular  mission  which 
he  pretends  to  have  received;  if  the  letters  which  com- 
pose this  Secret  History  were  written  by  him  only  to  be 
sent  direct  to  their  destination;  if  he  made  no  copies  of 
them;  if  it  was  not  by  his  act  that  they  were  made 
public;  in  fact,  if  he  is  entirely  innocent  of  the  printing 
of  this  work,  however  ignominious  may  be  the  obscure 
person  who  played  this  part,  it  is  for  him  alone  to  re- 
proach himself  with  his  baseness  and  crime,  and  justice 
cannot  hold  as  a  crime  the  publication  of  his  correspond- 
ence. The  publisher  only  merits  prosecution,  and  the 
printer,  equally  guilty,  should  share  the  punishment  of 
an  offense  which  is  as  contrary  to  public  honesty  as  it  is 
to  the  Law  of  Nations. 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE  13 

<(  (  With  regard  to  the  work  itself,  it  is  difficult  to  con- 
sider this  <(  Correspondence  w  otherwise  than  as  a  defam- 
atory libel  worthy  of  all  the  rigor  of  the  law.  By  a 
species  of  fatality,  writings  of  this  nature  generally  ex- 
cite the  curiosity;  the  more  they  are  vicious,  the  more 
they  are  sought  after.  The  human  heart  permits  itself 
to  be  so  easily  attracted  toward  that  which  is  evil.  In 
censuring  the  writer,  one  gives  publicity  to  his  libels. 
The  malicious  smile,  the  honest  man  contents  himself 
with  a  sigh,  and  the  defamation  remains  unpunished; 
whereas  general  indignation  should  denounce  and  prose- 
cute the  slanderer.  (<  The  Secret  History  of  the  Court  of 
Berlin w  has  not  received  the  same  indulgent  treatment. 
Public  opinion  was  shocked,  and  it  measured  the  insult, 
not  by  the  man  who  uttered  it,  but  by  the  elevated  posi- 
tion of  those  against  whom  it  was  directed.  The  dispar- 
ity of  rank  seemed  to  add  to  the  gravity  of  the  outrage. 
The  libel  was  regarded  as  sufficient  to  excite  the  indig- 
nation of  all  the  Powers,  should  the  law  not  hasten  to 
proscribe  the  work. 

"  *  It  is  by  the  King's  command  that  we  have  denounced 
this  fictitious  correspondence;  it  is  in  his  name  that  we 
demand  its  condemnation;  and,  after  having  consigned 
it  to  the  flames,  we  call  upon  the  Ministry  to  employ 
every  effort  for  the  discovery  of  the  author,  publisher, 
and  printer. 

" <  This,  then,  is  the  conclusion  of  our  indictment,  which 
we  place  before  the  Court,  together  with  the  two  vol- 
umes referred  to,  of  which  the  following  is  a  faithful 
description : 

<(  *  A  printed  work,  in  two  volumes,  entitled :  (<  The 
Secret  History  of  the  Court  of  Berlin ;  or,  Correspondence 
of  a  French  Traveler,  from  the  month  of  July,  1786,  un- 
til ipth  January,  1787.  A  posthumous  work,  1789  ;w  with- 
out names  of  either  the  author  or  printer,  containing  — 
Vol.  i.,  318  pages;  vol.  ii.,  376  pages.' 

[Conclusion  of  the  indictment  of  the  Procureur-ge'ne'ral  of 
the  King.  Follows  the  decision  of  the  Court. ,] 

<(  The  Court  orders  that  the  two  volumes  be  destroyed 
and  burned  in  the  courtyard  of  the  palace,  at  the  foot  of 


14  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

the  grand  staircase,  by  the  public  executioner,  the  Court 
being  of  the  opinion  that  the  volumes  contain  defamatory 
and  slanderous  libels,  which  are  contrary  to  the  respect 
due  to  other  Powers,  and  in  opposition  to  our  laws  and 
those  of  other  nations.  The  Court  calls  upon  all  those 
who  possess  copies  of  this  work  to  deliver  them  up  to 
the  clerk  of  this  Court  in  order  that  they  may  be  de- 
stroyed. It  also  strictly  prohibits  all  printers  and  book- 
sellers from  printing  or  selling  copies  of  this  work,  and 
all  colporteurs  and  distributors  from  hawking  or  distribu- 
ting it,  under  penalty  of  prosecution  and  punishment  with 
such  rigor  as  the  law  may  permit.  And  the  Court  fur- 
ther ordains  that,  at  the  request  of  the  Procureur-ge'ne'ral 
of  the  King,  information  may  be  heard  against  the  author, 
printer,  and  publisher,  before  the  Conseilleur-rapporteur 
that  the  Court  may  appoint,  for  the  witnesses  at  Paris; 
and  before  the  Lieutenant-criminel  des  bailliages  et  se"ne"- 
chausse'es  du  ressort,  for  such  witnesses  as  may  reside  in 
the  provinces,  having  regard  to  the  printing  and  distribu- 
ting of  this  work.  The  Court  ordains  that  the  present 
Decree  be  printed  and  posted  up  in  all  public  places,  and 
that  copies  may  be  sent  to  all  bailliages  et  se'ne'chausse'es 
du  ressort,  for  a  similar  purpose.  The  Court  enjoins  upon 
the  deputies  of  the  Procureur-ge'ne'ral  du  roi  to  give  this 
matter  their  attention,  and  to  report  to  the  Court  within 
a  month  from  this  date.  Given  in  Parliament,  fully  as- 
sembled, the  Peers  being  present,  the  tenth  day  of 
February,  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-nine. 

<(  (Verified)     GLUTTON. 

w  (Signed)      ISABEAU. 

"And  the  same  date  (xoth  February,  1789),  at  the  ris- 
ing of  the  Court,  the  aforesaid  work,  entitled  ( The 
Secret  History  of  the  Court  of  Berlin;  or,  Correspond- 
ence of  a  French  Traveler,'  was  destroyed  and  burned 
by  the  Public  Executioner,  at  the  foot  of  the  grand  stair- 
case in  the  Palace,  in  the  presence  of  me,  Dagobert 
Etienne  Isabeau,  esquire,  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  Grande 
Chambre,  assisted  by  two  ushers  of  the  Court. 

"  (Signed)     ISABEAU.* 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE  15 

At  the  end  of  the  Secret  History  will  be  found  a  letter 
addressed  by  Mirabeau  to  Frederick  William  II.,  on  the 
day  of  his  ascension  to  the  throne.  He  was  the  nephew 
of  the  great  Frederick,  and  the  father  of  the  present 
King. 

This  Prince  is  not  much  known  as  a  soldier,  his  only 
experience  in  the  art  of  warfare  being  during  the  in- 
vasion of  Champagne  in  1792.  He  received  Mirabeau's 
letter  with  kindness,  but  he  did  not  foresee  the  destiny 
which  the  (<  Voyageur  franqais  w  had  traced  for  him. 

C.  Y. 


SECRET    COURT    MEMOIRS 

THE    COURT    OF    BERLIN 


LETTER     I.* 

July  sth,   1786. 

SIR, —  I  have  the  honor  to  write  to  you  by  the  first  post, 
to  inform  you  that  the  Berlin  mail,  for  which  I 
waited  before  I  would  enter  my  carriage,  has  brought 
me  no  letter.  It  is  possible,  but  not  probable,  that  the 
letter  of  my  correspondent  has  been  sent  too  late  for  the 
post.  It  is  also  possible,  and  very  likely,  nay,  if  the 
Comte  de  Vergennes  has  received  no  intelligence  it  is 
almost  certain,  that  the  great  event  either  approaches  or 
is  past;  for  I  hold  it  as  infallible  that,  when  death  be- 
comes inevitable,  the  couriers  will  be  stopped.  This,  sir, 
deeply  engages  my  attention,  and  I  shall  hasten  with  all 
expedition  to  Brunswick,  where  I  shall  gain  certain  in- 
formation; there  I  shall  remain  several  days  if  the  King 
is  living. 

I  have  at  present  only  to  add,  I  shall  think  no  labor, 
time,  or  trouble  too  great  if  I  can  but  serve  you,  mon- 
sieur, and  the  cause  of  the  public. 

I  shall  not  repeat  any  of  our  conversations,  but  shall 
take  the  liberty  to  offer  you  my  advice,  solely  founded 
on  my  personal  attachment;  of  which  you  cannot  doubt, 

*  This  letter  is  evidently  addressed  to  a  Minister,  who  had  given  the 
traveler  some  secret  commission  to  execute.  It  seems  evident  to  us  that 
this  Minister  was  M.  de  Calonne ;  and  the  following  letter  is  extremely 
curious,  as  it  leads  to  prove  that,  from  the  beginning  of  the  year  1786, 
M.  de  Calonne  was  determined  on  the  Assembly  of  the  Notables;  whom 
he  convoked  and  directed,  in  1787,  with  so  much  perilous  and  fatal  pre- 
cipitation. 

2  (17) 


i8  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

since,  independent  of  that  amiable  seduction  which  you 
exercise  with  power  so  irresistible,  our  interests  are  the 
same.  The  torrent  of  your  affairs,  the  activity  of  ca- 
bals, the  efforts  of  every  kind  which  you  so  prodigally 
are  obliged  to  make,  render  it  impossible  that  you  should 
yourself  class  and  arrange  the  grand  projects  which  your 
genius  has  brought  to  maturity,  and  which  are  ready  to 
bud  and  bloom.  You  have  testified  some  regret  that  I, 
for  the  present,  declined  performing  this  office  for  you. 
Permit  me  therefore,  monsieur,  to  name  a  person  who 
is,  in  every  respect,  worthy  of  this  mark  of  your  confi- 
dence. 

The  Abbe"  de  PeYigord,  to  consummate  and  practical 
abilities,  joins  profound  circumspection  and  inviolable 
secrecy.  You  never  can  select  a  man  more  to  be  de- 
pended upon;  or  one  who  will  with  more  fervent  piety 
bow  before  the  shrine  of  gratitude  and  friendship;  who 
will  be  more  anxiously  active  in  good,  less  covetous  of 
others'  fame,  or  one  with  superior  conviction  that  fame 
is  justly  due  to  him,  only,  who  has  the  power  to  con- 
ceive and  the  fortitude  to  execute. 

He  possesses  another  advantage.  His  ascendency  over 
Panchand  represses  the  defects  of  the  latter,  which  have 
been  so  described  to  you  as  to  inspire  fears,  and  sets  all 
his  great  qualities  and  uncommon  talents,  which  daily 
become  more  necessary  to  you,  in  action.  There  is  no 
man  who  can  guide  and  rule  M.  Panchand  like  the  Abb6 
de  Pe*rigord,  who  will  momentarily  become  more  valu- 
able to  you  the  better  to  effect  a  grand  money  measure, 
without  which  no  other  measures  can  be  effected.  You 
may  confide  that  delicate  business  to  the  Abbe"  de  P6ri- 
gord,  which,  especially  in  the  present  moment,  ought 
not  to  be  trusted  to  clerks.  The  noble,  the  enlightened, 
the  civic  project  of  drawing  inferences  from  the  numer- 
ous false  statements  that  infest  the  accounts  of  Minis- 
ters (and  which,  being  compared  to  the  true  statements, 
caused,  or  rather  obliged,  the  King  to  determine  that 
decisive  measures  should  give  France  a  national  credit, 
and  consequently  a  legal  constitution)  cannot  be  better 
realized  than  by  the  joint  labors  of  these  two  persons. 
One  of  them  has  long  been  devoted  to  you;  and  the 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  19 

other  will  be,  whenever  any  single  act  of  benevolence 
shall  excite  his  emulation.  Condescend  to  believe,  mon- 
sieur, that  you  cannot  act  more  to  your  own  interest. 

I  was  desirous  of  writing  thus  to-night,  because  it 
would  neither  be  delicate  nor  decent  for  the  person  in- 
terested to  read  what  I  have  written;  and  this  letter  is 
the  last  you  will  receive  that  must  not  pass  through  the 
hands  of  a  third  person.  My  attachment,  monsieur,  to 
you,  and  your  fame,  induces  me  to  hope  you  will  place 
some  confidence  in  this  counsel,  if  I  may  so  venture  to 
call  it;  and  that  it  will  not  be  ranked  among  the  least 
of  the  proofs  of  the  most  devoted  respect  with  which  I 
am,  etc. 


LETTER    II. 

BRUNSWICK,  July  i2th,  1786. 

THAT  the  King  is  very  ill  is  very  certain;  but  he  is 
not  at  the  point  of  death.  Zimmermann,  the  famous 
Hanoverian  physician,  whom  he  sent  for,  has  de- 
clared that,  if  he  would  be  careful,  he  might  still  live; 
but  he  is  incorrigible  on  the  article  of  abstinence.  He 
still  mounts  his  horse,  and  he  even  trotted  fifty  paces 
some  days  since,  with  a  man  on  each  side  of  him;  but 
it  is  nevertheless  true  that  he  has  the  dropsy;  and  in 
reality,  he  has  not  been  any  better  since  my  departure. 

I  shall  not  see  the  reigning  Duke  of  Brunswick  before 
this  evening;  he  is  in  the  country.  He  has  powerfully 
supported  the  election  which  the  Chapters  of  Hildesheim 
and  Paderborn  have  lately  made  of  a  coadjutor.  M. 
Furstemberg  has  been  elected.  Vienna  caballed  exceed- 
ingly in  favor  of  the  Archduke  Maximilian.  It  appears 
that  the  Duke  wishes  to  promote  peace,  since  he  en- 
deavors, by  every  means,  to  strengthen  the  Germanic 
confederation,  which  certainly  has  that  only  for  its  end, 
though  the  means  may  give  room  for  reflection.  I  have 
my  reasons  for  being  of  that  opinion,  which  I  shall  ex- 
plain on  some  other  occasion.  To-day  I  am  at  the  mercy 
of  the  courier. 

Parties  are  very  busy  at  Berlin;  especially  that  of 
Prince  Henry,  who  is  eternally  eager,  without  well 
knowing  what  he  wishes.  But  all  is  silence  in  the  King's 
presence;  he  still  is  King,  and  so  will  remain  to  the 
last  moment. 

As  the  immediate  death  of  the  King  is  not  expected, 
I  shall  continue  at  Brunswick  some  days,  in  order  to 
prepare  him  for  my  return  (much  more  premature 
than  I  had  announced)  and  that  I  may  more  nearly 
study  the  Duke. 

(20) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  21 

The  coinage  continues  to  be  an  object  of  contention, 
and  exaggerated  discredit.  I  think  it  would  be  of  use 
to  publish  apologetic  reasons  concerning  the  gold  coin, 
confessing  its  too  high  rate  (for  wherefore  deny  that 
which  is  demonstrated  ?) ;  and  justificatory  proofs,  relative 
to  the  silver,  the  crowns  of  sixty-nine,  and  those  since 
1784,  still  remaining  prohibited. 

You  no  doubt  know  that  the  Duke,  Louis  of  Bruns- 
wick,* has  quitted  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  is  retired  to 
Eisenach.  The  troubles  of  that  petty  republic  may 
perhaps  explain  his  retreat;  but  these  do  not  seem  to 
me  sufficient  motives  for  his  new  abode,  and  for  this 
single  reason,  that  the  Duchess  of  Weymar  is  his  niece. 

*  Not  the  reigning  Duke  of  Brunswick,  just  before  mentioned,  but 
his  uncle,  the  late  Prime  Minister  of  the  Stadtholder ;  or  rather  the  late 
effective  regent  of  the  United  Provinces. 


LETTER   III. 

July  i4th,   1786. 

I  DINED  and  supped  yesterday  with  the  Duke.  When  we 
rose  from  table,  after  dinner,  he  took  me  aside  to  the 
window,  where  we  conversed  for  about  two  hours, 
with  much  reserve  at  first,  on  his  part,  afterward  with 
more  openness,  and  at  last  with  an  evident  desire  to  be 
thought  sincere. 

An  expression  of  esteem  for  the  Comte  de  Vergennes, 
and  fear  for  his  approaching  retreat,  gave  occasion  to 
this  private  conversation.  The  expression  alluded  to  was 
immediately  followed  by  the  question  ( which  was  asked 
in  a  tone  of  affected  indifference,  and  betrayed  a  very 
strong  degree  of  curiosity ),  (<  No  doubt  M.  de  Breteuil 
will  be  his  successor  ?  w  The  Duchess  was  of  our  party. 
I  answered,  lowering  my  voice,  but  articulating  with 
great  firmness,  <(  I  hope  and  believe  not.  "  It  was  after 
I  had  said  this  that  he  led  me  to  the  window,  at  the  far 
end  of  the  apartment.  He  presently  began  to  converse, 
with  all  the  energy  which  his  slowness  and  native  dignity 
admit,  of  the  inquietude  which  the  Germanic  body  could 
not  avoid  feeling,  should  M.  de  Breteuil,  who  was  at  the 
head  of  the  Austrian  party,  and  who  has  long  been  a 
servant  and  friend  of  the  Cabinet  of  Vienna,  succeed  to 
the  place  of  first  Minister. 

I  replied  (speaking  of  the  Comte  de  Vergennes  with 
every  respect,  and  of  the  generous  and  pacific  intentions 
of  the  King  with  great  confidence )  that,  should  the  Comte 
de  Vergennes  retire,  it  would  probably  be  of  his  own 
free  will;  and  that  no  one  would  have  greater  influence 
than  himself  in  the  choice  of  his  successor;  that  con- 
sequently, whether  he  remained  in  office  or  went  out,  the 
first  Minister  would  not  be  of  the  Austrian  party;  and, 
though  most  assuredly  the  probity  of  the  King,  and  the 
morale  of  his  politics,  would  continue  to  render  the  con- 

(22) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  23 

nections  between  the  Courts  of  Vienna  and  Versailles  re- 
spected, as  they  would  all  others,  yet,  that  the  interest 
of  Europe,  and  of  France  in  particular,  was  so  intimately 
united  to  the  continuance  of  peace,  that  these  connections, 
far  from  inciting  war,  could  but  contribute  to  render 
peace  durable ;  that  France  was  sufficiently  puissant,  from 
innate  strength  and  from  the  state  of  her  affairs,  honor- 
ably to  own  that  she  dreaded  war,  which  she  would  take 
every  care  to  shun;  that  I  did  not  think  sudden  war 
probable,  especially  when,  studying  the  administration  of 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  I  perceived  that  he  had  per- 
formed his  duties,  of  Prince  and  father,  with  so  much 
assiduity  and  success;  that,  however  natural  it  might  be 
for  man  to  seek  that  career,  in  which  he  was  indubitably 
the  first,  I  could  not  believe  he  ( the  Duke )  would  sacri- 
fice to  the  desire  of  military  renown,  so  much  of  which 
he  had  already  acquired,  his  favorite  work,  his  real  en- 
joyments, and  the  inheritance  of  his  children;  that  all 
circumstances  called  him  to  supreme  influence  over  the 
affairs  of  Prussia  after  the  death  of  the  great  King,  and 
that,  Prussia  being  at  this  time  the  pivot  on  which  con- 
tinental war  or  peace  were  balanced,  he  ( the  Duke  of 
Brunswick)  would  almost  singly  decide  which  was  to 
ensue ;  that  he  had  formerly  sufficiently  shone  the  hero  of 
war,  and  that  I  was  convinced  he  would  hereafter  remain 
the  angel  of  peace. 

He  then  forcibly  denied  ever  having  been  fond  of  war ; 
even  at  the  time  when  he  had  been  most  fortunate.  He 
showed,  independent  of  his  principles,  how  ardently  his 
family  and  personal  interest  would  induce  him  to  beware 
of  war.  <(  And  if  it  were  necessary,  *  added  he,  (<  in  an 
affair  so  important,  to  consult  nothing  further  than  the 
despicable  gratification  of  self-love,  do  I  not  know  how 
much  war  is  the  sport  of  chance?  I  have  formerly  not 
been  unfortunate.  I  might  hereafter  be  a  better  general, 
and  yet  might  not  have  the  same  success.  No  prudent 
man,  especially  one  who  is  advanced  in  life,  will  risk 
his  reputation  in  so  hazardous  a  pursuit,  if  it  may  be 
avoided. M 

This  part  of  his  discourse,  which  was  long,  animated, 
energetic,  and  evidently  sincere,  was  preceded  by  a 


24  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

phrase  of  etiquette  and  remonstrance,  in  which  he  as- 
sured me  that  he  never  should  possess,  and  was  far  from 
desiring  to  possess,  any  influence  in  Prussia.  To  this 
phrase  I  reverted;  and,  by  a  rapid  sketch,  proving  to 
him  that  I  was  well  acquainted  with  Berlin,  the  princi- 
pal actors  there,  and  the  present  state  of  men  and  things,  I 
demonstrated  (which  he  most  certainly  knows  better  than 
I  do)  that  his  interest,  the  interest  of  his  house,  of  Ger- 
many, and  of  Europe,  made  it  a  duty  in  him  to  take  the 
helm  of  State  in  Prussia;  to  preserve  that  kingdom  from 
the  hurricane  most  fatal  to  States,  the  strength  of  which 
principally  depends  upon  opinion.  I  mean  from  petty 
intrigues,  petty  passions,  and  want  of  stability  and  con- 
sistency of  system.  "Your  personal  dignity, "  added  I, 
a  which  is  truly  immense,  and  a  thousand  times  more 
elevated  than  your  rank,  however  eminent  that  may  be, 
no  doubt  forbids  you  to  tender  your  services;  but  it  is 
your  duty,  I  will  not  say  not  to  refuse,  no,  I  repeat,  it  is 
your  duty  to  take  measures,  and  employ  all  your  abil- 
ities, all  your  powers,  to  gain  an  ascendency  over  the 
successor,  and  to  seize  the  direction  of  affairs.* 

This  mode  of  treatment  greatly  developed  the  man. 
He  spoke  with  truth,  and  consequently  with  a  degree  of 
confidence,  of  Berlin.  He  told  me  Count  Hertzberg  had 
not  let  him  remain  ignorant  of  our  intimacy;  he  de- 
picted many,  of  the  persons  who  have  influence,  such  as 
I  know  them  to  be.  I  clearly  saw  that  there  was  a  cool- 
ness, founded  on  some  unknown  subject,  between  him 
and  the  Prince  of  Prussia;*  that  he  (the  Duke  of 
Brunswick)  neither  loved  nor  esteemed  Prince  Henry; 
and  that  his  (the  Duke's)  party  was  as  powerfully  formed 
as  it  could  be,  in  a  country  hitherto  little  in  the  habit 
of  cabal,  but  which,  perhaps,  will  presently  be  initiated. 
I  purposely  assumed  much  faith  in  the  warlike  disposi- 
tions of  the  Cabinet  of  Berlin.  The  Duke  gave  good 
proofs  that,  independent  of  the  Heir  Apparent,  who, 
though  personally  brave,  was  not  warlike,  as  well  be- 
cause of  his  manners  and  habits  as  of  his  prodigious 
stature,  it  would  be  madness  to  begin;  that  the  moment 
of  acquisition  by  arms,  which,  perhaps,  still  was  neces- 

*The  Heir  Apparent 


THE   COURT    OF   BERLIN  25 

sary  to  Prussia,  was  not  yet  come;  and  that  it  was 
necessary  to  consolidate,  etc.,  etc.  All  this  was  very 
serious,  very  sensible,  and  very  circumstantial. 

The  Oriental  system,  Russia,  Poland,  Courland,  all 
passed  in  review. 

They  still  have  their  fears  concerning  the  Oriental 
system;  that  is  to  say,  concerning  the  part  that  we 
might  take.  They  seem  to  believe  that  Russia  will  never 
powerfully  second  the  Emperor,  except  in  support  of  the 
Oriental  system,  and  whatever  may  contribute  to  its 
success.  Poland  is  to  reconstruct.  We  remitted  speaking 
of  it,  as  well  as  of  Courland.  Suddenly,  and  by  a  very 
abrupt  transition  (it  seems  to  me  he  employs  transitions 
to  surprise  the  secrets  of  those  with  whom  he  converses, 
and  on  whom  he  earnestly  fixes  his  eyes  while  he  listens), 
he  asked  what  I  meant  to  do  at  Berlin.  <(  Complete  my 
knowledge  of  the  North, w  answered  I,  <(  which  I  have  had 
little  opportunity  of  studying,  except  at  that  city;  since 
Vienna  and  Petersburg  are  to  me  forbidden  places.  And 
who  knows  ?  We  always  presume  on  our  own  powers. 
It  may  be  hoped  that,  the  subject  being  so  grand,  the 
soul  may  elevate  the  genius.  I,  perhaps,  shall  dare  to 
snatch  the  portrait  of  Caesar  from  the  daubers  who  are 
so  eager  to  besmear.8  This  answer  seemed  satisfactory. 
I  found  it  easy  to  interlard  my  discourse  with  agreeable 
compliments.  I  told  him  he  had  rather  conquered  than 
vanquished  us ;  that  we  regarded  the  fate  of  Germany  as 
resting  on  his  shoulders,  etc. ,  etc. ;  and  that,  therefore, 
the  design  of  writing  the  most  brilliant  history  of  the 
age  in  which  I  lived  had  placed  me,  even  before  I  was 
acquainted  with  him,  in  the  rank  of  one  of  his  most 
ardent  admirers.  I  know  not  whether  he  did  or  did  not 
believe  that  I  solely  occupied  myself  with  literature ;  but 
the  supposition  that  I  shall  write  history  will  perhaps 
render  him  more  accessible  to  me,  and  acquire  me  more 
of  his  confidence;  for  he  appears  to  possess  the  love, 
and  even  the  jealousy,  of  fame  to  the  utmost  de- 
gree. 

I  am  pressed  by  the  courier  because,  not  having 
quitted  the  Court  all  yesterday,  I  could  not  write  before 
this  morning;  and  the  courier  departs  at  eleven  o'clock. 


36  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

Writing  in    cipher   is   very    tedious;    I    therefore  omit    a 
thousand  particulars  which  lead  me  to  believe  — 

1.  That    the    English   will    not,    by    any  means,    be    so 
quickly  successful  in  their  artifices  in  the  North  as  might 
be  feared;  if  the  Court   of  Berlin    may   at   all  depend  on 
the  Court  of  Versailles. 

2.  That  it  is  time  to  speak  a  little  more  openly  to  the 
former;  and  not  to  confound  mystery  and  secrecy,  finesse 
and  prudence,  ambiguity  and  policy. 

3.  That   the    Duke   of    Brunswick,    whom    I   believe  to 
be  by  much   the   most    able  Prince    of  Germany,    is  sin- 
cerely desirous   of   peace;   and   that   he   will    inspire   the 
Cabinet  of  Berlin  with  the   same    sentiments,    if   but  the 
least  restraint  be  laid  on  the    Emperor;   who,  said  he  to 
me,  has  spoken  in  outrageous   terms,    in  the  presence  of 
seven  or  eight  witnesses  besides  myself,  of  the  Prince  of 
Prussia. 

4.  That    the     intention    of     the    Duke     is     to     govern 
Prussia,    and    to    obtain    great    confidence    and    superior 
influence    in    Europe;    that    he    would    dread    lest    these 
would  not  be  augmented  by  war,   which  he  is  convinced 
ought    to    be   avoided,    at    Berlin;    and    that    war  is   not 
really  to  be    feared,  except   as   far  as   France   shall  en- 
courage the  Emperor,  who  without  us   will    not  be  any- 
thing. 

I  have  not  time  to-day  to  give  more  than  a  sketch  of 
the  Duke  such  as  he  appears  to  me,  who  certainly  will 
not  be  thought  a  common  man  even  among  men  of 
merit.  His  person  bespeaks  depth  and  penetration,  a 
desire  to  please  tempered  by  fortitude,  nay  by  severity. 
He  is  polite  to  affectation;  speaks  with  precision,  and 
with  a  degree  of  elegance;  but  he  is  somewhat  too  care- 
ful to  speak  thus,  and  the  proper  word  sometimes  escapes 
him.  He  understands  the  art  of  listening,  and  of  inter- 
rogating according  to  the  very  spirit  of  reply.  Praise, 
gracefully  embellished  and  artfully  concealed,  he  finds 
agreeable.  He  is  prodigiously  laborious,  well  informed, 
and  perspicuous.  However  able  his  first  Minister  Feronce 
may  be,  the  Duke  superintends  all  affairs,  and  generally 
decides  for  himself.  His  correspondence  is  immense,  for 
which  he  can  only  be  indebted  to  his  personal  considera- 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  27 

tion;  because  he  cannot  be  sufficiently  wealthy  to  keep 
so  many  correspondents  in  pay;  and  few  great  Courts 
are  so  well  informed  as  he  is.  All  his  affairs  are  in 
excellent  order.  He  became  the  reigning  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick in  1780,  and  found  his  principality  loaded  with 
debts,  to  the  amount  of  forty  millions  of  livres.  His 
administration  has  been  such  that,  with  a  revenue  of 
about  one  hundred  thousand  louis,  and  a  sinking  fund 
in  which  he  has  deposited  the  savings  of  the  English  sub- 
sidies, he  will,  in  1790,  not  only  have  perfectly  liquidated 
the  debts  of  the  sovereignty,  but,  also,  those  of  the 
State.  His  country  is  as  free  as  it  can  be ;  and  is  happy 
and  contented,  except  that  the  trading  class  regret  the 
prodigality  of  his  father.  Not  that  the  reigning  Duke  is 
less  sensible  to  elegant  pleasures  than  another;  but,  se- 
verely observant  of  decency,  and  religiously  faithful  to  his 
duty  as  a  Prince,  he  has  perceived  that  economy  was 
his  only  resource.  His  mistress,  Madame  Hartfeld,  is  the 
most  reasonable  woman  at  Court;  and  so  proper  is  this 
attachment  that,  having  a  short  time  since  discovered  an 
inclination  for  another  woman,  the  Duchess  leagued  with 
Madame  Hartfeld  to  keep  her  at  a  distance.  Truly  an 
Alcibiades,  he  delights  in  the  pleasures  and  the  graces; 
but  these  never  subtract  anything  from  his  labors  or  his 
duties,  not  even  those  of  prudence.  When  he  is  to  act 
as  a  Prussian  general,  no  one  is  so  early,  so  active,  so 
minute  as  himself.  It  is  a  mark  of  superior  character 
and  understanding,  in  my  opinion,  that  the  labor  of  the 
day  can  be  less  properly  said  to  be  sufficient  for  him  than 
he  is  for  the  labor  of  the  day;  his  first  ambition  is  that 
of  executing  it  well.  Intoxicated  by  military  success, 
and  universally  pointed  out  as  a  great  general  (especially 
since  the  campaign  of  1778,  during  which  he  all  the 
winter  maintained  the  feeble  post  of  Troppau,  to  which 
the  King  of  Prussia  annexed  a  kind  of  vanity,  against 
every  effort  of  the  Austrians),  he  appears  effectually  to 
have  quitted  military  glory,  to  betake  himself  to  the 
cares  of  government.  Everywhere  made  welcome,  pos- 
sessed of  unbounded  curiosity,  he  still  is  capable  of  as- 
siduously confining  himself  to  Brunswick,  and  attaching 
himself  to  business.  He  is,  in  fine,  a  man  of  an  uncom- 


28  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

mon  stamp,  but  too  wise  to  be  formidable  to  the  wise. 
He  delights  much  in  France,  with  which  he  is  exceed- 
ingly well  acquainted,  and  appears  to  be  very  fond  of 
whatever  comes  from  that  country.  His  eldest  son,  re- 
turning from  Lausanne,  has  passed  through  Franche- 
Comte",  Languedoc,  and  Provence,  and  is  very  desirous 
to  return  to  France.  I  shall  soon  know  if  he  is  to  be 
sent  back.  In  my  opinion  the  son  cannot  be  treated 
with  too  much  respect  there,  so  as  to  testify  confidence 
in  the  father;  which  it  seems  to  me  would  give  the  latter 
pleasure,  by  which  he  would  certainly  be  sufficiently  con- 
firmed and  flattered,  to  keep  this  treatment  in  memory. 

I  cannot  at  present  speak  of  the  supper,  when  the 
Duke  removed  me  from  the  place  of  honor,  opposite  the 
Duchess,  where  I  sat  at  dinner,  to  seat  me  beside  him- 
self, which  is  always  at  the  far  end  of  the  table.  The 
conversation  was  lively,  and  absolutely  individual,  but 
not  political.  (We  had  listeners.)  He  questioned  me 
much  concerning  France.  I  am  to  dine  with  him  to-day, 
and  to  sup  with  the  Duchess  Dowager,  at  Antoinetten- 
Ruh.  I  could  not  avoid  this  tax  on  propriety,  which 
deprives  me  of  an  opportunity  of  supping  with  the  Duke, 
—  a  favor  he  rarely  grants,  and  which  appeared  to  be 
much  remarked  here,  yesterday,  where  I  am  observed 
with  anxiety.  Perhaps  I  am  supposed  a  place  hunter. 

The  continuance  of  Zimmermann  at  Potsdam  is  pro- 
longed, more  than  it  was  supposed  it  would  have  been. 
He  writes  that  the  dropsy  is  not  confirmed,  and  he  again 
talks  of  an  asthma.  This  is  medical  cant.  He  is  the 
creature  of  the  King,  not  of  the  public.  Certain  it  is 
that  he  has  gained  no  victory  over  eel  pies  and  polenta; 
that  there  are  no  longer  any  wrinkles  in  the  face ;  and  that 
the  parts  are  all  inflated  and  oedematous. 

Prince    Henry,    however,    is   returned    to    Rheinsberg, 

where  the  youthful  and  handsome  R ,    as   it   is   said, 

occasions  rain  and  fair  weather. 

I  can  warrant  it  as  a  fact  that  a  Scotchman  who  is 
first  physician  to  Catherine  II.  of  Russia,  being  lately  at 
Vienna,  dined  at  the  table  of  the  Emperor,  and  was 
seated  by  his  side.  Indeed,  this  was  avowed  in  the 
Gazettes;  but  it  was  not  there  avowed  that,  while  this 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  29 

physician  remained  at  Vienna,  Cobenzl  (the  Austrian 
Ambassador  to  the  Court  of  Petersburg,  but  then  at 
Vienna)  having  been  ordered  to  show  the  physician  a 
pleasure  house  in  the  vicinity  of  the  metropolis,  the 
Emperor  on  horseback  HAPPENED  to  meet  the  doctor  on 
the  road,  and  continued  in  conversation  with  him,  at  the 
coach  window,  for  the  space  of  more  than  two  leagues. 


LETTER   IV. 

July  1 6th,   1786. 

TO-DAY  I  was  three  hours  alone  with  the  Duke,  after 
rising  from  dinner.  The  conversation  was  animated, 

frank,  and  almost  confidential:  it  confirmed  me  in 
most  of  the  opinions  I  gave  in  my  last  letter  (Number 
III.),  but  it  has  inspired  me  with  much  fear,  concern- 
ing the  situation  of  Prussia  after  the  death  of  the  King. 
The  successor  seems  to  have  every  symptom  of  the  most 
incurable  weakness ;  the  most  corrupt  among  the  persons 
by  whom  he  is  surrounded,  of  whom  the  gloomy  and 
visionary  Bishopswerder  may  be  ranked  as  first,  daily 
increase  in  power.  There  is  a  coolness  said  to  prevail 
between  the  Heir  Apparent  and  his  uncles.  The  coad- 
jutorship  of  the  Order  of  St.  John,  bestowed  with  great 
solemnity  on  Prince  Henry,  the  eldest  son  of  Prince 
Ferdinand,  which  deprives  the  successor  of  more  than 
fifty  thousand  crowns  per  annum,  is  the  most  recent 
cause  of  this  coolness.  It  should  seem  that  there  have 
been  very  powerful  intrigues  for  the  establishment  of 
these  two  young  Princes,  whom  both  city  and  Court  re- 
gard as  the  children  of  Count  Schmettau.  The  measures 
taken  to  effect  this  were  strengthened  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  the  King  was  supposed  to  be  expiring,  so  as 
to  bind  the  successor,  of  whom  they  consequently  have 
testified  their  suspicion.  To  the  King's  brother,  Prince 
Henry,  the  half  at  least  of  all  this  appertains;  nor  has 
the  Heir  Apparent  attempted  to  conceal  his  dissatisfaction. 
Thence  it  results  that  all  the  subaltern  parties,  and 
their  dirty  cabals,  become  more  active;  so  that  the  re- 
spect in  which  the  Court  of  Berlin  has  been  held,  and  in 
which  consists  its  greatest  power,  depends,  perhaps,  but 
too  much  on  the  life  of  the  King;  unless  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick  should  seize  the  reins  of  government,  the 
burden  of  which  he  seriously  appears  to  dread.  In 

(.30) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  31 

effect,  a  kingdom  like  this,  which  has  no  constituent 
foundation,  will  be  cruelly  agitated,  should  the  winds  of 
Court  begin  to  blow;  and  should  the  Duke,  who  has 
formed  himself  without  having  studied  in  the  school  of 
adversity,  and  whose  reason  and  sagacity  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  speak  too  highly  of,  fear  to  reverse  the  whole 
system  of  his  mode  of  life.  But  he  does  not  start  at 
difficulties;  and  he  is  too  much  interested  in  the  pros- 
perity of  Prussia  not  to  seek  to  obtain  influence 
there. 

It  does  not  appear  to  me  probable  that  the  first  six 
months,  or  even  the  first  year,  should  produce  any  change, 
or  do  more  than  prepare  for  change.  The  Duke  has 
repeatedly  assured  me  that  all  the  Protestant  powers  of 
Germany,  and  a  great  part  of  the  Catholic,  would  in- 
controvertibly  be  in  the  interest  of  France,  whenever  the 
latter  should  fully  convince  the  Germanic  body  of  her 
amicable  intentions;  and  when  I  asked  what  pledges 
should  be  given  us  that  the  high  part  with  which  the 
Elector  of  Hanover  was  invested,  in  the  confederation 
of  the  Princes,  should  not  sway  the  Cabinet  of  Berlin  to 
the  side  of  the  English,  and  should  not  become  an  in- 
vincible impediment  to  any  sincere  union  between  Ver- 
sailles and  Prussia,  he  clearly  showed  me,  so  as  not  to 
admit  of  reply,  that  the  Germanic  league  would  never 
have  existed,  or  at  least  would  never  have  assumed  its 
present  form,  had  it  not  been  for  the  ambiguity  of  our 
conduct,  relative  to  the  Schelde,  to  Bavaria,  and  to  the 
Oriental  system.  He  added  that  the  Elector  of  Hanover, 
and  the  King  of  England,  were  two  very  distinct  per- 
sons: and  that  the  English  and  the  Germans  were  great 
strangers  to  each  other. 

Here  I  ought  to  observe  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  Duke 
overacts  his  part,  whenever  he  speaks  of  depressing 
England,  which  I  well  know  he  loves;  and  that  perhaps 
because  he  feels  his  family  connections  may,  in  this 
respect,  render  him  more  liable  to  suspicion.  In  a  word, 
I  cannot  too  often  repeat  that  they  do  not  appear  to 
have  confidence  in  us,  but  that  such  confidence  is  very 
sincerely  desired ;  and  that  the  more  because  the  Emperor, 
unsupported  by  France,  is  not  held  in  the  least  dread, 


32  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

and  that  there  is  a  reigning  conviction  he  will  not  dare 
to  take  a  single  step,  when  the  Cabinet  of  Versailles 
shall  say,  (<  We  will  not  suffer  any  infraction. w 

Be  it  however  remarked  that  the  incoherent  conduct 
of  the  Emperor,  and  his  abrupt  vagaries,  often  unhinge 
all  the  combinations  of  reason.  The  Duke  has  to-day 
learned  a  fact  of  this  kind,  which  may  well  incite  medi- 
tation. 

The  Baron  of  Gemmingen,  some  time  since,  wrote  a 
very  violent  pamphlet  against  the  German  confederacy. 
Dohm,  an  excellent  Prussian  civilian,  answered  in  a 
strong  and  victorious  manner.  The  Ministry  of  Vienna, 
in  consequence,  requested  our  Ministry  to  entreat  the 
Court  of  Berlin  to  suffer  wordy  hostilities  to  cease.  The 
latter  consented;  but  there  has  just  appeared  (printed 
indeed  at  Munich,  but  indubitably  coming  from  Vienna) 
a  satirical  and  bitter  reply  to  Dohm.  Verbal  wars  are 
rarely  insignificant  at  Vienna,  where  they  are  never  begun 
but  under  the  auspices  of  Government. 

The  following  is  another  fact  of  serious  import,  if 
true.  The  Duke  has  received  advice,  from  Vienna,  that 
between  four  and  five  thousand  Russians  have  entered 
Poland,  where  the  Diet  threatens  to  be  very  turbulent. 
The  Duke  is  desirous  we  should  take  a  decisive  part  con- 
cerning and  against  all  new  arrangements  tending  to  the 
further  dissolution  or  dismemberment  of  Poland.  I  have 
not  knowledge  sufficient  of  this  country  to  enter  into  any 
circumstantial  detail;  but  I  spoke  to  htm  on  the  subject 
of  Courland,  explaining  my  ideas,  relative  to  the  late 
proceedings  of  Russia  in  this  country,  such  as  they  will 
be  found  in  my  Memorial ;  and  I  introduced  my  discourse 
as  if  arising  out  of  the  conversation.  He  was  ardently 
attentive  to  what  I  said,  and  promised  to  write  according 
to  my  sense  of  the  danger  to  Count  Hertzberg.  I  well 
comprehend  that  the  circumstances  of  the  moment  are 
nothing  less  than  favorable;  and  the  assent  which  was 
warmly  given  by  a  most  excellent  politician  emboldens 
me  to  entreat  that  my  Memorial  may  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration, though  it  should  only  be  practicable  in  future, 
and  that  some  instructions  may  be  sent  me,  on  the  man- 
ner in  which  I  may  sound  the  Duke  of  Courland  on  this 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  33 

head,  whom  I  shall  meet  at  Berlin,  and  the  principal 
persons  of  Courland,  with  whom  I  may  easily  correspond ; 
my  trade  of  traveler  being  known,  and  my  desire  to  col- 
lect facts  and  to  deduce  consequences  giving  great  op- 
portunities to  inquire  and  speak  concerning  all  sub- 
jects. 
3 


MEMORIAL.* 

Sent  to  the  Court  of  France,  Concerning  the  Declaration  Made  by 
Russia  to  Courland,  and  Published  in  the  (<Leyden  Gazettes, »  from 
the  aoth  of  May  to  the  3d  of  June,  1786. 

COURLAND  has  lately  been  officially  menaced  with  the 
indignation  of  the  Sovereign  of  all  the  Russias,  on 
the  supposition  that  the  report,  relative  to  the  ab- 
dication of  the  Duke  of  Courland  in  favor  of  the  Prince 
of  Wurtemberg,  a  general  in  the  Prussian  service,  should 
be  true. 

The  reigning  Duke,  Ernest  John,  a  ferocious  man,  so 
much  abhorred  in  his  own  country  as  not  to  be  able  to 
remain  there,  although  he  should  not  dread  any  violence 
from  the  Ministry  of  Petersburg,  is  known  to  be  the 
son  of  the  famous  Biron,  who  was  reinstated  Duke  of 
Courland,  in  1760,  by  the  influence,  or  rather  through 
the  fear  of  Russia,  which  power,  with  the  aid  of  forty 
thousand  men,  expelled  Prince  Charles  of  Saxony,  the 
uncle  of  the  Elector  and  the  legitimate  Duke,  to  restore 
the  former  favorite  of  Elizabeth, f  whom  a  Court  faction 
had  lately  recalled  from  Siberia. 

It  is  also  known  that  this  Ernest  John  has  more  than 
once  felt  the  whole  weight  of  the  resentment  of  Cather- 
ine II. ;  that  he  has  been  near  twenty  years  banished 
into  Siberia;  that  he  has  no  influence  whatever  in  Cour- 
land; and  that  his  abdication  is  universally  wished. 

•This  is  apparently  the  Memorial  which  is  mentioned  in  the  pre- 
ceding letter. 

fThis  is  a  mistake.  Biron  was  the  favorite  of  the  Empress  Anne 
Ivanowna;  was  banished  to  Siberia  by  Anne  of  Mecklenburg,  the 
Princess  Regent  of  Russia ;  was  soon  recalled  from  Schlusselburg  and 
sent  to  Yaroslaf  by  the  Empress  Elizabeth;  was  restored  to  freedom 
by  Peter  III. ;  and  after  the  assassination  of  the  latter,  to  his  duchy 
by  Catherine  II. ;  not  to  confer  a  favor  on  Biron,  but  to  wrest  the 
duchy  from  Poland,  and  to  render  it  dependent  on  herself. 
(34) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  35 

But  it  is  not  known,  or  rather  it  is  kept  secret,  that 
he  was  enjoined,  by  a  Ukase  (or  edict)  six  years  ago,  to 
resign  his  duchy  to  Prince  Potemkin ;  and  that,  by  the  ad- 
vice of  the  Chancellor  Taube,  and  of  the  Chamberlain 
Howen,  he  averted  the  storm  by  remitting  to  Prince 
Potemkin  (whose  affairs  ever  were  and  are  in  disorder) 
two  hundred  thousand  ducats.  Rason,  the  ministerial 
secretary  of  the  Duke,  was  intrusted  to  carry  him  this 
sum. 

Whether  it  be  that  Potemkin,  while  waiting  for  the 
execution  of  his  grand  projects,  which  perhaps  relate  to 
the  Oriental  system,  or  to  circumstances  that  are  yet 
immature,  wishes  to  acquire  this  accession  of  power; 
whether  it  be  that  he  is  in  want  of  money;  or  more 
especially  whether  it  be  that  the  Duke  of  Courland,  since 
his  situation  has  been  so  precarious  is  known  in  conse- 
quence of  his  avarice  to  have  become  one  of  the  rich- 
est princes  in  Europe,  and  that,  rendered  effeminate  by 
adversity,  old  age,  and  the  daily  importunities  of  his 
last  wife,  who  has  acquired  some  influence  over  him,  he 
is  endeavoring  to  place  himself  beyond  the  reach  of 
ill  fortune ;  be  it  which  of  these  causes  it  may,  a  similar 
crisis  is  again  returned. 

The  Cabinet  of  Petersburg  is  ignorant  of  none  of  these 
things.  It  doubtless  fears  that  the  Court  of  Berlin  is 
speculating  concerning  the  province  of  Courland;  hoping, 
by  the  aid  of  a  new  Duke,  to  have  it  entirely  at  its  dis- 
posal. The  conditions  which  gave  Poland  a  right  of  pro- 
tection over  Courland  having  ceased,  when  power  be- 
came law,  and  at  the  moment  the  oppressed  republic 
found  it  impossible  to  fulfill  those  conditions,  it  is  not 
absurd  to  apprehend  that  Prussia  will  surreptitiously  take 
the  place  of  Poland,  and  thus  to  its  own  profit  confirm 
the  right  by  the  deed. 

Courland  is  in  reality  far  from  a  contemptible  country. 
Its  climate,  being  in  the  57th  degree  of  latitude,  though 
sufficiently  is  not  insupportably  cold.  Its  extent  in  length 
is  eighty  leagues,  and  in  breadth  fifty.  Its  soil  is  fertile, 
and  its  natural  products  are  very  necessary  for  all  the 
commercial  and  maritime  powers.  Two  principal  and 
navigable  rivers  divide  it,  from  east  to  west,  the  Aa  and 


36  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

the  Windau;  several  brooks  and  canals  intersect  it  in 
every  direction.  It  has  two  ports,  Windau  and  Liebau 
on  the  Baltic.  In  its  present  important  and  indolent 
state  its  commerce,  active  and  passive,  does  not  employ 
less  than  from  six  to  seven  hundred  vessels,  of  three, 
four,  and  as  far  as  eight  hundred  tons  burden.  It  con- 
tains seven  or  eight  small  towns,  and  its  population  is 
estimated  at  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  inhabit- 
ants. The  landholders  may  be  supposed  not  to  be  in  a 
state  of  wretchedness,  since  the  revenues  of  the  reigning 
Duke,  whose  influence  in  the  republic  is  so  small,  annu- 
ally amount  to  two  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling. 
Such  is  the  outline  of  the  situation  of  Courland. 

It  would  be  of  little  use  to  prove  in  this  place  that  the 
republic  being  a  free  State,  the  Prince  of  which  is  purely 
elective,  so  that  though  he  may  abdicate  he  cannot  transfer 
his  privileges,  Russia  cannot  legally  interfere  in  the  affairs 
of  Courland,  which  ought  to  be  as  independent  as  are  its 
rights.  This  word  RIGHTS  is  totally  stripped  of  meaning 
when  opposed  to  the  word  POWER.  Russia  has  long  been 
in  the  habit  of  vexing  Courland,  internally  and  exter- 
nally; of  dictating  the  choice  of  its  Governors;  of  laying 
its  suffrages  under  restraint ;  and  of  extorting  or  forcibly 
seizing  on  its  money,  its  produce  and  its  men.  The 
Monarchs  of  Petersburg  have  always  made  it  a  principle 
to  familiarize  the  Courts  of  Europe  to  the  supposition  that 
Courland  has  no  political  existence  except  such  as  Rus- 
sia shall  please  to  bestow.  All  this  is  well  known. 

The  points  I  should  wish  briefly  here  to  examine  are : 

i.  Whether  it  is  not  evidently  our  interest  to  intro- 
duce a  new  order  of  affairs;  and  — 

2    Whether  we  have  not  the  means  so  to  do. 

Courland,  kept  back  and  oppressed  by  every  kind  of 
exterior  and  interior  tyranny,  possesses  no  one  species 
of  manufacture.  It  abounds  in  naval  stores;  stores  for 
which  reason  there  is  an  affinity,  resulting  from  circum- 
stances, between  Courland  and  France,  which  latter  holds 
the  first  rank  among  industrial  nations,  or  an  affinity 
between  their  mutual  products,  the  direct  barter  of 
which  would  give  birth  to  the  most  advantageous  kind  of 
trade. 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  37 

In  reality,  there  exists  at  present  a  species  of  barter 
between  Courland  and  France ;  but  in  so  indirect  a  man- 
ner that  it  is  carried  on  at  second  or  third  hand,  by  the 
intervention  of  the  English,  the  Dutch,  the  Swedes,  the 
Danes,  the  Prussians,  the  Hanse  Towns,  etc. 

This  intervention  absorbs  and  destroys  all  the  benefit 
which  a  trade  so  advantageous  would  be  of  to  France, 
and  which  certainly  ought  abundantly  to  procure  us,  and 
at  a  moderate  price,  a  price  unknown  in  our  dockyards 
and  markets,  ship  timber,  masts,  spokes,  fellies,  ve- 
neering wood,  etc.,  grain,  ship  beef,  saltfish,  vege- 
tables, etc.  The  natural  returns  for  these  would  be  the 
produce  of  our  industry,  from  the  coarsest  to  the  finest 
articles  (for  nothing  is  manufactured  in  Courland),  which 
the  Courlanders  (whose  consumption  is  great,  and  who 
are  very  desirous  of  articles  of  luxury,  and  even  of  finery) 
would  then  obtain  from  us  at  a  moderate  price,  still  in- 
finitely lucrative  to  our  traders. 

The  advantage  of  this  direct  trade  would  not  be  con- 
fined merely  to  money  ;  for,  besides  the  influence  which 
such  intimate  connections  with  Courland  would  give  us 
in  the  Baltic  and  the  North,  where  we  should  become 
the  mediators  between  Prussia,  Russia,  and  Poland,  which 
last  State  must  necessarily  soon  undergo  some  new 
change,  France,  by  a  commercial  treaty  with  Courland, 
would  acquire  two  ports  on  the  Baltic,  which  would  at 
least  remain  neuter  and  almost  exclusive  to  herself. 
These  would  be  useful  to  us,  both  in  war  and  peace,  as 
depository  places  for  stores,  and  most  of  the  materials 
which  are  requisite  for  the  royal  and  mercantile  marine; 
and  would  highly  compensate  the  disadvantage  which 
continually  increases,  and  which  is  preparing  for  us  in 
the  North,  relative  to  our  marine,  in  consequence  of  the 
strict  connections  between  England  and  Russia. 

To  the  attentive  observer,  England  presents  every 
symptom  which  can  menace  the  possessions  of  the 
Dutch  in  the  East,  and  which  can  forebode  the  de- 
sire of  revenge.  Russia  can  at  any  time  rob  France 
of  a  great  part  of  the  naval  supplies  of  war  in  the 
European  seas. 

This  order  of  affairs  cannot  too  soon  be  reversed. 


38  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

Let  it  be  attentively  observed  that  there  is  no  ques- 
tion here  of  a  new  treaty,  but  the  revival  of  an  ancient 
one;  for  the  Cardinal  de  Richelieu  made  a  treaty  with 
Courland,  in  1643,  which  was  registered  by  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Paris,  in  1647;  so  that,  should  we  at  present 
treat  with  Courland,  we  can  decisively  affirm,  and  dem- 
onstrate, we  are  committing  no  innovation. 

This  seems  to  me  to  be  a  very  important  remark, 
which  ought  not  a  little  to  influence  the  resolution  that 
may  be  taken,  and  the  form  given  to  that  resolution, 
when  once  it  is  taken. 

The  States  of  Courland  desire  this  political  affinity  be- 
tween the  two  countries.  The  Chamberlain  Howen,  of 
whom  I  have  spoken,  is  a  man  of  the  greatest  influence 
in  the  republic,  and,  of  all  the  Courlanders,  the  most 
anti-Russian;  because  that,  while  an  envoy  from  Cour- 
land to  the  Court  of  Warsaw,  he  was  carried  off,  by  order 
of  the  Empress,  and  banished  into  Siberia.  His  nephew 
was  indirectly,  but  formally,  charged  to  question  the  Gov- 
ernment of  France  on  this  subject.  I  positively  know  he 
has  spoken  to  the  Comte  de  Vergennes,  and  that  the  only 
answer  he  received  from  the  Minister  was: 

1.  That,   he   being   Minister  for   Foreign   Affairs,    this 
was  a  subject  that  did  not   appertain  to  his   department. 

2.  That  it   was  requisite   that   the    Duke    of   Courland 
and  the   States,  conjointly   and  officially,  should  make  a 
proposition  to  the  King,  concerning  a  treaty  of  commerce. 

To  this  I  reply: 

1.  That,  most  certainly,  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs 
ought  to  consult  with  the  Minister  of    Finance,  on  what- 
ever relates  to  commercial    treaties;    but    that  this   does 
not  therefore  appear  to  me  a  sufficient   reason   to  reject 
either  the  project  or  the  proposal. 

2.  That  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  Courland, 
bowed  as  it  is   under  the    iron    rod   of  present   circum- 
stances, would  expose  itself,  by    taking   any   open    step, 
without   first   being   certain    its    propositions    should    be 
favorably  received,  and  that  the  country   should  be   pro- 
tected against  that   power    which,  possessed   of   strength 
and  in  the  habit  of  taking  its  will  for  law,   should  make 
every   effort  to  counteract   and   prevent  whatever   might 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  39 

tend  to  impart  solidity  to  the  constitution  of  Courland, 
and  to  render  its  political  independence  respectable. 

I  see  no  hope  that  any  power,  except  Prussia,  should 
interest  itself  in  the  affairs  of  this  province.  And  this 
is  the  second  point  which  it  is  my  intention  to  prove, 
in  this  Memorial. 

i  Because  the  situation  of  the  Prussian  States  is  such 
that  the  stability  and  prosperity  of  Courland  ought  no 
less  to  influence  the  King  of  Prussia  than  if  this  country 
was  one  of  his  own  provinces. 

2.  Because  he  cannot  prudently  covet  Courland,  which 
Russia  would  never  leave  him  in  peaceable  possession 
of,  and  which  would  but  increase  the  length  of  his 
provinces,  already  too  much  extended,  without  rendering 
his  power  more  real  or  more  compact. 

This  latter  point  is  self-demonstrative;  and,  as  to  the 
advantages  which  Prussia  might  derive  from  the  future 
stability  of  Courland,  and  from  the  increase  of  its  energy 
and  industry,  these  are  evident  from  a  mere  view  of  the 
map.  Between  the  States  of  Brandenburg  and  Russia 
there  is  only  the  dismemberment  of  Poland,  which  at 
present  forms  part  of  Prussian  Lithuania  and  of  Cour- 
land, of  which  the  King  of  Prussia,  politely  speaking, 
would  become  the  useful  proprietor  that  very  day  on 
which  he  should  become  its  guardian  and  protector. 
Russia,  therefore,  necessarily  and  indubitably  is  formid- 
able to  none  of  the  powers  of  Europe,  Prussia  excepted, 
on  which  kingdom  she  can  bring  evil,  and  which  can  do 
her  no  injury. 

On  the  other  part,  it  is  known  that  there  is  only  a 
very  narrow  slip  of  Polish  Lithuania  between  the  States 
of  Prussia  and  Courland,  which  barely  extends  from  five 
to  six  leagues.  Here  Prussia  might  easily  make  legal 
and  amicable  acquisitions,  sufficient  to  open  a  very 
advantageous  transport  trade  on  the  Memel,  and  the 
canals  that  might  be  cut  between  that  river  and  the 
rivers  of  Courland,  descending  to  the  ports  of  the  Baltic, 
of  which  I  have  spoken. 

Either  I  am  much  deceived  or  the  Ministry  of  Berlin 
might  easily  be  made  to  comprehend  that,  instead  of 
forming  projects  of  ambition  on  this  republic,  its  real 


40  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

interest  would  be  to  declare,  in  some  manner,  Prussia  to 
be  the  representative  of  Poland  in  her  engagements 
toward  Courland,  as  stipulated  by  the  pacta  conventa 
and  the  pacta  subjectionis,  which  have  been  actually  and 
necessarily  destroyed.  Prussia  might  find  a  hundred 
reasons  of  public  right  to  allege,  independent  of  her 
dignity  and  safety.  This  proposition,  and  that  of  acced- 
ing to  our  treaty  of  commerce  with  Courland,  would 
therefore  contain  nothing  imprudent;  it  would  perhaps 
be  a  good  means  of  depriving  the  House  of  Brandenburg 
of  all  fears  relative  to  our  Northern  politics.  Nor  does 
it  seem  to  be  impossible  but  that  the  King  of  Prussia 
would,  on  this  condition,  support  the  declaration  we 
might  make  to  the  Court  of  Petersburg,  that  it  was  our 
determination  to  protect  Courland;  and  not  to  suffer  a 
free  country,  allied  to  France  by  ancient  treaties,  to  be 
humbled,  over  which  we  would  not  permit  any  direct 
and  legislative  influence  to  be  exerted  by  any  Court. 

Such  a  declaration,  softened  by  every  diplomatic  for- 
mality, which  is  so  easily  practiced,  would  at  this  time 
be  sufficient,  in  my  opinion,  especially  if  made  in  con- 
cert with  the  Court  of  Berlin,  to  repel  the  projects  of 
usurpation  conceived  by  Russia  over  Courland. 

Be  these  things  as  they  may,  this  small  country,  too 
little  known,  together  with  Poland  and  the  Germanic 
body,  claims  the  serious  attention  of  the  King  of  France ; 
who,  if  my  opinion  be  right,  has  no  other  general  inter- 
est, on  the  continent,  than  that  of  maintaining  peace 
and  the  reciprocal  safety  of  States. 


LETTER    V. 

July  i  pth,   1786. 

YESTERDAY  morning,  before  my  departure,  the  Duke 
granted  me  an  audience  for  the  space  of  about 
three  hours;  or  rather,  personally  indicated  a  con- 
ference, under  the  pretense  of  remitting  letters  to  Berlin, 
and  which,  indeed,  he  committed  to  my  care.  We  again 
spoke  of  general  affairs,  and  of  the  particular  situation  of 
Prussia ;  of  the  suspicions  which  he  pretends  it  is  impos- 
sible to  avoid  entertaining,  concerning  our  intentions 
and  our  system  (how  should  I  answer  him  when  such  is 
the  disorder  of  our  finances  that  it  is  impossible  we 
should  have  any  system?);  of  the  dread  that  daily  in- 
creases, which  the  Emperor  necessarily  inspires,  who 
does  good  awkwardly,  but  who  does  enough  to  acquire 
great  power,  the  basis  of  which  is  magnificent,  and 
highly  disproportionate  to  that  of  any  other  monarchy, 
France  excepted;  of  the  impossibility  of  finding  any 
counterpoise  to  this  power,  except  in  the  prudence  of  the 
Cabinet  of  Versailles;  of  the  little  hope  that  the  new 
regulations  of  Prussia  should  be  wise;  of  the  various  di- 
rections which  the  various  factions  that  were  fermenting 
at  Berlin  might  take;  of  the  military  vigor  and  the 
ambitious  fumes  which  intoxicate  the  Duke  of  Weymar, 
who  aspires  to  enter  into  the  service  of  Prussia,  and  to 
embroil  parties;  of  the  necessity  which  there  was  that 
the  Cabinet  of  Versailles  should  send  a  man  of  merit  to 
Berlin,  there  to  inspire  awe  and  give  advice,  keep  watch 
over  the  factious  and  the  turbulent,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

At  length,  questioning  me  with  an  air  of  fearing  what 
he  was  going  to  say  was  an  absurdity,  he  asked  whether 
I  should  think  the  project  of  an  alliance  between  France, 
England,  and  Prussia  an  impracticable  chimera;  the  end 
of  which,  solemnly  avowed,  should  be  to  guarantee, 
throughout  Europe,  to  each  Prince  his  respective  posses- 

(41) 


42  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

sions;  a  measure  in  itself  noble,  and  worthy  of  the  two 
first  powers,  which  should  command  all  others  to  remain 
at  peace;  founded  on  the  evident  and  combined  interest 
of  the  two  rivals,  and  the  greatest  obstacle  to  which 
would  be  that  no  one  would  dare  to  put  it  in  execu- 
tion. 

The  idea,  on  which  I  have  for  these  seven  years  been 
ruminating,  is  too  sublime  not  to  be  seductive.  It  would 
infallibly  immortalize  the  Sovereign  by  whom  it  should  be 
realized,  and  the  Minister  by  whom  it  should  be  pro- 
moted. It  would  change  the  face  of  Europe,  and  totally 
to  our  advantage;  for,  once  again,  commercial  treaties, 
however  advantageous  to  England,  would  never  make  the 
English  anything  more  than  our  carriers  and  our  most 
useful  factors. 

The  Duke  has  permitted  me  to  correspond  with  him; 
he  even  desired  me  so  to  do,  and  I  find  I  have  obtained 
almost  that  very  place  in  his  opinion  which  I  myself 
could  have  wished. 

July  2ist,   1786. 

FIRST  POSTSCRIPT. —  I  am  arrived,  and  perhaps  I  shall 
learn  but  little  to-day.  The  dropsy  is  in  the  stomach; 
nay,  in  the  lungs.  He  was  informed  of  it  on  Thursday. 
He  heard  it  with  great  magnanimity,  say  some;  others 
affirm  he  treated  the  physician,  who  was  to<>  sincere, 
very  ill.  He  might  drag  on  life,  if  he  would  take  ad- 
vice, Doctor  Baylies  says,  another  year;  but  I  suspect  he 
will  never  give  up  eel  pies.  Count  Hertzberg  has  been 
at  Sans  Souci  this  week  past;  he  had  never  before  been 
sent  for.  Two  days  previous  to  that  on  which  the  King 
made  him  this  kind  of  honorable  reparation,  if,  however, 
it  be  anything  else  than  the  necessity  of  giving  breath 
to  those  who  are  obliged  to  converse  with  him,  and  of 
enlivening  his  conversation,  the  Heir  Apparent  dined 
with  the  Count  at  his  country  seat,  and  passed  the  best 
part  of  the  evening  with  him  and  the  Prince  of  Dessau. 
This  has  bewildered  the  parties  that  are  hotly  animated 
against  this  estimable  Minister,  in  and  for  whom,  accord- 
ing to  my  opinion,  our  embassy  has  always  testified  too 
little  confidence  and  respect. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  43 

SECOND  POSTSCRIPT. —  I  have  intelligence,  from  what  I 
believe  to  be  a  very  certain  and  profound  source,  wholly 
independent  of  the  Cabinet  of  Berlin,  that  the  Emperor 
has  made  preparations  which  greatly  menace  those  parts 
of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  that  would  be  convenient  to 
him  to  possess;  that  he  is  immediately  expected  to  re- 
pair to  those  frontiers  in  person;  and  that  such  motions 
cannot  otherwise  be  explained  than  by  reacting  the  con- 
quest of  the  Crimea  in  those  countries.  This  informa- 
tion, combined  with  the  ultimatum  which  Russia  has 
delivered  in  to  the  Porte,  seems  to  me  to  be  of  sover- 
eign importance.  I  do  not  know  the  precise  intentions 
of  the  Court  of  France;  but  if  the  indefinite  aggrandize- 
ment of  the  Emperor,  and  particularly  the  execution  of 
the  Oriental  system,  are  as  formidable  to  us  as  I  sup- 
pose them  to  be,  I  entreat  deliberations  may  be  held 
whether  it  befits  the  dignity  of  the  King  to  suffer  the 
tragedy  of  Poland  to  recommence,  the  interest  of  the 
State  to  lose  the  Levant  trade,  or  prudent  policy  to  tem- 
porize, when  the  match  is  putting  to  the  touch-hole.  I 
cannot  for  my  part  doubt  but  that  our  inactivity,  in  such 
a  case,  must  be  gratuitous;  because  the  Emperor  would 
most  certainly  not  brave  us ;  and  fatal  also,  since  we  are 
precisely  the  only  power  who  have  at  once  the  interest 
and  the  strength  to  impede  such  attempts.  England  will 
trouble  herself  little  concerning  them,  and  without  us 
Prussia  is  nothing. 


LETTER    VI. 

July  zist,   1786. 
******* 

AN  ODD  incident  has  happened  to  me.  I  am  just  re- 
turned from  the  French  Ambassador's,  who  sent 
me  word  he  could  not  have  the  honor  of  receiving 
my  visit,  because  he  was  busy.  To  feel  the  whole  import 
of  this  act,  it  is  necessary  to  know  that  there  has  lately 
appeared  an  article  in  the  *  Hamburg-  Gazette, w  affirming  in 
express  terms  I  had  received  orders  to  quit  France. 
You  will  further  recollect  that,  in  general,  the  Ambas- 
sador of  France  is  eagerly  desirous  of  receiving  the  visits 
of  French  travelers.  Such  is  the  present  combination  of 
circumstances  that  this,  which  would  only,  on  any  other 
occasion,  be  an  affair  of  rather  serious  impoliteness,  is 
at  this  moment  a  very  embarrassing  affectation.  I  be- 
lieve I  have  no  need  to  tell  you  I  am  far  superior  to 
punctilio;  but  this  is  not  mere  form.  The  natural  pre- 
ponderance of  France  is  such  that  the  respect  in  which 
a  native  of  that  country  is  held  cannot  be  wholly  inde- 
pendent of  the  reception  he  shall  meet  from  the  Ambas- 
sador. What,  then,  must  be  thought  when  he  shall  be 
envied,  suspected,  and  watched,  and  when  pretenses  are 
sought  to  render  his  character  equivocal?  And  what  must 
be  his  situation,  when,  far  from  seeking  to  quarrel  with 
the  Ambassador,  it  is  his  duty  and  his  wish,  on  all  oc- 
casions, to  preserve  appearances,  and  to  protect  him  from 
becoming  instead  of  making  him  ridiculous? 

You  will  have  no  difficulty  in  comprehending  that  it 
is  an  intricate  affair,  and  that  I  must  well  reflect  on  the 
part  I  have  to  take.  At  present  I  must  dissemble,  and 
expose  myself  to  a  new  refusal  to-morrow;  but  it  will 
be  impossible  to  suffer  this  new  refusal  to  remain  un- 
noticed. I  write  you  word  of  this  in  order  that,  in  any 
case,  and  rather  too  soon  than  too  late,  you  should  in- 
form M.  d'Esterno  it  is  not  the  intention  of  Government 
(44) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  45 

that  I  should  be  treated  in  a  disrespectful  manner,  and 
still  less  as  a  proscribed  person.  He  is  so  much  of  a 
timid  trembler,  that  he  may  have  been  imposed  upon  by 
the  Hamburg  paragraph.  I  do  not  think  him  sufficiently 
cunning  to  have  written  it  himself.  He  certainly  appeared 
ridiculously  disturbed  at  my  return,  and  entirely  departed 
from  his  silent  circumspection,  that  he  might  discover, 
by  questioning  those  whom  he  supposed  intimate  with 
me,  what  were  my  intentions.  Some  of  the  numerous 
persons  who  do  not  love  him,  especially  among  the  corps 
diplomatique,  have  amused  themselves  with  inventing 
tales  relative  to  my  views,  similar  to  those  of  the 
ft  Thousand  and  One  Nights. w  His  brain  is  in  a  state  of 
fermentation  upon  the  subject;  and  the  more  so  as  he  is 
acting  out  of  character.  I  may  in  consequence  of  this 
be  very  ill-situated  here.  To  prevent  this  you  will 
take  proper  measures.  I  shall  tell  you  more  before  I 
seal  this  letter;  he  is  not  a  person  who  will  oppose  the 
least  ministerial  insinuation. 


LETTER  VII. 

July  23d,  1786. 

is  nobody  here,  consequently  I  shall  for  some 
days  lead  an  inactive  life.  There  is  no  Court,  ex- 
cept that  of  Prince  Ferdinand,  which  is  always 
insignificant;  he  is  at  present  on  the  recovery.*  Prince 
Frederick  of  Brunswick  knows  nothing.  The  English  Em- 
bassy caress  and  suspect  me.  Count  Hertzberg  still  re- 
mains at  Sans  Souci;  I  must,  therefore,  satisfy  myself  with 
the  sterility  of  the  moment.  I  imagine  I  have  discovered 
that  the  real  occasion  of  the  threatening  declaration  of 
Russia  respecting  Courland,  was  a  secret  proposal  of  mar- 
riage between  the  Countess  of  Wurtemberg,  the  natural 
daughter  of  the  Duke,  and  a  Prussian ;  and  the  increasing 
intimacy  of  the  Duke  with  the  Heir  Apparent,  who  has 
found  in  the  purse  of  this  savage  Scythian  that  pecuniary 
aid  with  which  he  ought  long  since  to  have  been  supplied 
by  France.  The  Duke  of  Courland  departed,  soon  after  the 
menace  of  Petersburg  appeared,  with  his  wife,  who  is  said 
to  be  pregnant,  to  drink  the  Pyrmont  waters.  According 
to  all  appearances,  instead  of  remaining  at  Berlin  on  his 
return,  he  will  go  to  Mittau.  He  still  continues  to  make 
acquisitions  in  the  Prussian  dominions;  he  has  lately 
bought  the  county  of  Sagan,  in  Silesia;  and  the  King, 
who  was  not  a  little  vexed  to  see  the  Prince  of  Lobko- 
witz  spend  the  revenues  of  this  fine  estate  at  Vienna, 
treats  the  Duke  of  Courland  with  great  favor.  Besides 
remitting  the  manor  fees,  he  consented  to  alienate  or  at 
least  to  entail  the  fief  on  female  descendants,  which  be- 
fore was  revertible  to  the  Crown  on  the  want  of  male 
heirs;  so  that  the  Duke,  who  has  no  son,  found  that,  by 
his  carelessness,  or  a  very  strange  kind  of  ignorance,  he 
had  risked  six  hundred  thousand  German  crowns  on  a 
chance  the  most  hazardous. 

*  Prince  Ferdinand  had  just  then  escaped  from  a  dangerous  fit  of 
sickness. 
(46) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  47 

It  is  indubitable  that  Prince  Potemkin  is,  or  appears 
to  be,  more  in  favor  than  ever.  It  has  been  found 
necessary  to  approve  his  disobedience.  There  are  re- 
ports that  he  has  sought  a  reconciliation  with  the  Grand 
Duke,  which  he  has  accomplished. 

The  new  Minister  of  Petersburg  (the  son  of  Field- 
marshal  Romanzow)  is  not  successful  here;  intelligent 
people,  however,  affirm  he  possesses  understanding  and 
information.  I  know  he  has  strong  prejudices  against 
me,  which  I  shall  endeavor  to  remove,  and  to  gain  his 
intimacy;  for  he  is  of  such  a  nature  that  much  may  be 
derived  from  his  acquaintance.  But  you  must  feel  I 
stand  in  need  of  some  instructions,  or  at  least  of  a  series 
of  questions,  which  shall  serve  me  as  a  compass,  and  by 
which  I  may  obtain  the  customary  intelligence.  General 
politics  have  for  some  years  been  very  incoherent,  for 
want  of  possessing  some  fixed  system.  Which  of  the  two 
alliances,  that  of  the  House  of  Austria,  or  that  between 
the  two  Imperial  Courts,  Austria  and  Russia,  ought  to 
be  regarded  as  stable,  sacred,  and  subordinate  to  the 
other  ?  Is  France  resolved  to  quit  her  natural  train,  I 
mean  to  say  her  continental  system,  for  the  maritime  ? 
If  so,  whether  wisely  or  not,  this  will  at  least  explain 
our  extreme  cautiousness,  in  what  relates  to  the  projects 
of  the  Court  of  Vienna. 

The  man  who  wants  this  knowledge  can  do  little  more 
than  wander  at  a  venture ;  he  may,  with  more  or  less  in- 
telligence, write  a  gazette,  but,  not  having  a  sufficient 
basis  to  build  on,  cannot  be  a  negotiator.  I  entreat  it 
may  not  be  supposed  I  have  the  presumption  to  interro- 
gate; I  only  mean  to  explain,  in  very  few  words,  such 
of  the  reasons  which,  exclusive  of  my  own  want  of  ca- 
pacity, and  of  the  few  means  my  situation  affords  me, 
infinitely  circumscribe  that  utility  which  I  wish  and  labor 
to  be  of  to  my  country. 

I  hope  I  shall  not  be  suspected  of  supposing  any  im- 
portance annexed  to  those  extracts  from  the  German 
newspapers,  which  I  shall  in  future  send  by  every  courier. 
It  is  purely  an  object  of  curiosity,  but  which  I  thought 
might  be  agreeable  in  a  country  where,  I  believe,  not  a 
single  German  gazette  is  received;  and  into  which  so 


48  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

many  Ambassadors  send  no  other  dispatches  than  those 
obtained  on  the  authority  of  these  gazettes.  I  shall  only 
speak  in  my  extracts  of  the  news  of  the  North. 

FIRST  POSTSCRIPT.  —  Advice  yesterday  arrived  com- 
manding Lord  Dalrymple  to  depart,  and  bear  the  Order 
of  the  Garter  to  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel. 

SECOND  POSTSCRIPT.  —  I  have  received  a  very  friendly 
letter  from  Sans  Souci.  The  King  seems  to  hope  he 
shall  still  live  long;  he  appears,  however,  to  be  much 
more  occupied  concerning  himself  and  his  pineapples 
than  by  foreign  affairs.  Astonishment  is  testified  (this 
is  a  surprising  affair ! )  though  in  a  very  obliging  man- 
ner, that  the  son  of  the  Comte  de  Vergennes  should  pass 
through  Hamburg,  Dresden,  Vienna,  etc.,  without  any 
hope  of  seeing  him  at  Berlin.  I  have  answered  I  was 
very  grateful,  in  behalf  of  my  nation,  for  the  importance 
annexed  to  the  topographical  peregrination  of  the  son  of 
our  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  that  I  imagined 
nothing  could  be  more  flattering  to  his  father;  but  that, 
for  my  own  part,  I  was  wholly  uninformed  on  the  sub- 
ject; though  I  was  persuaded  that,  if  the  Court  of 
Berlin  was  reserved  as  the  last  place  to  be  visited,  it 
would  only  be  from  a  love  of  the  Crescendo.  I  said  the 
same  to  Count  Goertz,  by  whom  I  was  warmly  questioned. 


LETTER  VIII. 

BERLIN,  July  z6th,   1786. 

fine  weather  supports  the  life  of  the  King,  but  he 
is  ill.     On    Wednesday   he    was   for    some   minutes 
wheeled  about  in  his  chair,  by  which  he  was  much 
incommoded,  and  suffered  greatly  during   and   after   the 
exercise.     His  pains  increased  on  Thursday,  and    yester- 
day he  was  no  better.     I  persist  in  my  opinion  that   the 
period   of    his    existence    will   be    toward  the   month  of 
September. 

The  Heir  Apparent  does  not  quit  Potsdam,  where  he 
keeps  on  the  watch.  Still  the  same  respectful  passion 
for  Mademoiselle  Voss.*  During  a  short  journey  that 
she  lately  made  with  her  brother,  a  confidential  valet  de 
chambre  followed  her  carriage  at  a  distance,  and  if  the 
beauty,  who  in  my  opinion  is  very  ordinary,  testified  the 
least  desire  (to  eat  white  bread,  for  example),  before  she 
had  proceeded  half  a  league  further  she  found  everything 
she  wished.  It  appears  indubitable  that  she  has  not 
yet  yielded.  No  great  use  can  be  made  either  of  her 
uncle  or  her  brothers.  Frenchwomen  arrive  daily  ;  but 
I  doubt  much  whether  there  will  be  any  great  advantage 
derived  from  them,  except  to  innkeepers  and  milliners. 

The  Duke  of  Courland  has  lent  the  Heir  Apparent 
money  to  pay  his  debts  at  Berlin;  they  are  supposed  to 
be  all  discharged,  except  those  of  his  Princess,  which 
they  are  not  very  anxious  to  liquidate,  from  the  fear  of 
giving  her  bad  habits. 

I  have  spoken  at  large  with  Struensee.  He  supposes 
the  project  of  the  bank  to  be  a  grand  and  superb  operation, 
which  cannot  but  succeed.  He  asks  timely  information, 
and  promises  to  place  and  cause  to  be  placed  in  it  a 
considerable  sum;  but  the  secret  must  only  be  known 
to  him,  and  the  subject  treated  only  between  ourselves. 

*At  present  the  Countess  of  Ingenheim. 
4  (49) 


LETTER   IX. 

July  3ist,   1786. 
*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

I  SUPPOSE  in  reality  that,  in  this  commencement  of  cor- 
respondence, my  letters  are  waited  for,  in  order  to 
write  to  me;  however,  if  my  letter  of  the  23d  of 
July  (Number  V.)  has  been  well  deciphered  and  consid- 
ered, it  cannot  be  disowned  that  I  stand  in  need  of  in- 
structions. Politics  are  at  a  crisis.  I  repeat,  politics 
are  at  a  crisis.  It  is  impossible  they  should  continue  as 
they  are,  whether  it  be  from  endeavors  to  accelerate  or 
efforts  to  retard.  Everything  denotes  the  Oriental  sys- 
tem to  increase  in  vigor.  I  have  no  doubt  but  that, 
soon  or  late,  it  will  be  destructive  of  that  of  the  West; 
and  the  danger  is  immediate,  is  instantaneous.  If  Tur- 
key in  Europe,  speaking  in  political  and  commercial  lan- 
guage, be  one  of  our  colonies,  if  we  are  not  resolved  to 
leave  it  to  its  fate,  is  it  not  time  to  pay  it  some  atten- 
tion ?  and  because  that  it  is  so,  is  the  general  system  of 
Europe  out  of  the  question  ?  Were  the  King  of  Prussia 
ten  years  younger,  he  would  well  know  how  to  restore 
the  equilibrium,  for  he  would  take  as  much  from  Po- 
land as  others  might  take  elsewhere ;  but  he  dies  and  has 
no  successor.  For  my  own  part,  it  is  easy  to  conceive, 
I  shall  consume  my  time  in  barren  efforts;  and,  after 
taking  much  more  trouble,  shall  be  much  less  useful 
than  if  I  knew  what  track  to  follow,  and  where  to  gain 
information. 

The  King  is  in  daily  danger  of  death,  though  he  may 
live  some  months.  I  persist  in  my  autumnal  prognostics. 
Prince  Henry  having  sent  for  me  to  Rheinsberg  by  a 
very  formal  and  friendly  letter,  it  would  appear  affecta- 
tion in  me  not  to  go;  and  I  shall  set  off  on  Wednesday, 
after  the  departure  of  the  courier.  I  shall  not  remain 
there  longer  than  a  week,  where  I  shall  have  good 
(so) 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  51 

opportunities  of  intelligence  concerning  the  state  of  the 
King,  and  of  gaining  information  on  various  matters. 

POSTSCRIPT. —  The  King  is  sensibly  worse;  he  has  had  a 
fever  these  two  days;  this  may  kill  him,  or  prolong  his 
life.  Nature  has  continually  done  so  much  for  this  ex- 
traordinary man,  that  nothing  more  is  wanting  to  restore 
him  than  a  hemorrhoidal  eruption.  The  muscular  powers 
are  very  great. 

The  English  Embassy  has  received  advice  from  Vienna 
that  the  Emperor  is  in  Transylvania,  and  that  the  world 
is  ignorant  of  what  he  is  doing,  what  he  intends,  or  even 
to  what  place  he  is  gone. 

All  the  boats  on  the  Danube  are  taken  into  his  service. 

The  maritime  company  wished  to  monopolize  the  sale 
of  snuff  and  tobacco  in  Sweden,  offering  to  pay  half  a 
million  annually  to  the  King ;  but  the  Swedish  States  have 
totally  refused  to  forbid  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  in  the 
kingdom,  and  this  was  the  condition,  sine  qud  non.  The 
actions  of  this  Monarch  decline  greatly,  on  all  occasions; 
another  Diet  like  the  present,  and  monarchical  power 
would  once  more  fall  in  Sweden.  It  appears  to  be  un- 
doubted that  the  rumor  of  his  having  turned  Catholic, 
on  his  journey  to  Rome,  has  alienated  the  whole  nation. 
But  are  we  to  impute  nothing  to  the  intrigues  of  Russia, 
in  the  present  fermentation  ? 

Struensee  repeats  that,  if  the  bank  be  established,  he 
and  his  friends  are  ready;  that  is  to  say,  the  most  mon- 
eyed men  in  the  kingdom,  and  probably,  under  a  new 
reign,  the  Government  itself.  This  man  ought  to  be 
cherished.  It  would  be  of  importance  were  I  often  em- 
powered to  give  him  good  information  respecting  the 
state  of  the  place.  Meditate  on  this.  His  resources  are 
in  himself,  and  will  probably  survive  his  administration. 
He  has  gained  immensely,  by  speculating  in  the  Eng- 
lish funds.  He  ought  to  be  weaned  of  this,  to  which  he 
is  self -inclined,  for  he  feels  and  owns  that  chances  in 
the  English  funds  are  exhausted  for  the  remainder  of  his 
life. 


LETTER  X. 

August  zd,   1786. 

Written  before  my  departure  for  Rheinsberg. 
******* 

THE  King  is  evidently  better,  at  least  with  respect  to 
pain,  when  he  does  not  move;  he  has  even  left  off 
the  use  of  the  taraxicum,  or  dandelion,  the  only 
thing  Zimmermann  prescribed,  who,  consequently,  is  in 
despair.  He  simply  takes  a  tincture  of  rhubarb  mixed 
with  diarrhcetics,  which  give  him  copious  evacuations. 
His  appetite  is  very  good,  which  he  indulges  without 
restraint.  The  most  unhealthy  dishes  are  his  greatest 
favorites.  If  indigestion  be  the  consequence,  as  it  fre- 
quently is,  he  takes  a  double  aperitive  dose. 

Frese,  his  physician  of  Potsdam,  still  continues  in  dis- 
grace, for  having  dared  to  whisper  the  word  dropsy  on 
the  question  being  asked  him,  and  an  appeal  made  to  his 
conscience,  what  was  the  name  and  character  of  the 
disease.  The  King  is  exceedingly  chilly,  and  is  con- 
tinually enveloped  in  furs,  and  covered  by  feather  beds. 
He  has  not  entered  his  bed  these  six  weeks,  but  is 
removed  from  one  armchair  to  another,  in  which  he 
takes  tolerably  long  sleeps,  turned  on  his  right  side.  In- 
flation augments;  the  scrotum  is  exceedingly  tumid.  He 
perceives  this,  but  will  not  persuade  himself,  or  appear 
to  believe,  that  it  is  anything  more  than  the  inflation  of 
convalescence,  and  the  result  of  great  feebleness. 

This  information  is  minutely  exact,  and  very  recent. 
There  is  no  doubt  of  his  unwillingness  to  die.  The 
people  best  informed  think  that,  as  soon  as  he  believes 
himself  really  dropsical  and  at  the  point  of  death,  he 
will  submit  to  be  tapped,  and  to  the  most  violent 
(52) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  53 

remedies,  rather  than  peaceably  resign  himself  to  sleep 
with  his  fathers.  He  even  desired,  some  time  since, 
incisions  might  be  made  in  his  hams  and  thighs ;  but  the 
physician  feared  to  risk  them.  With  respect  to  his 
understanding,  it  is  still  sound;  and  he  even  continues 
his  labors. 


LETTER  XI. 

August  8th,   1786. 

THE  King  is  dangerously   ill;   some    affirm   he  has  not 
many  hours  to  live,    but  this   probably  partakes  of 
exaggeration.     On  the   fourth,    the   erysipelas  with 
blisters  on   the   legs  made    their   appearance;   this   prog- 
nosticates bursting,  and  soon  after  gangrene.     At  present 
there  is  suffocation,    and  a  most   infectious   smell.     The 
smallest  fever  —  and  the  curtain  must  drop. 
(54) 


LETTER  XII. 

August  1 2th,   1786. 

THE  King  is  apparently  much  better.     The  evacuation, 
which  was  the  consequence   of  the  apertures  in  his 
legs,  has  caused  the    swelling  to   abate,    and  given 
ease;  but  has  been   followed   by   a  dangerous  excess  of 
appetite.     He  cannot   continue  in   this    state.      You  may 
expect   to   receive   a   grand    packet  at   my   return  from 
Rheinsberg. 

(55) 


LETTER    XIII. 

August  isth,   1786. 

I  AM  just  returned  from  Rheinsberg,  where  I  have 
lived  in  the  utmost  familiarity  with  Prince  Henry. 
I  have  numerous  modes  of  communication,  which 
will  develop  themselves  as  time  and  opportunity  shall 
serve;  at  present  I  shall  only  state  consequences. 

Prince  Henry  is  in  the  utmost  incertitude,  concerning 
what  he  shall  or  shall  not  be  under  the  new  reign.  He 
greatly  dreads,  and  more  than  he  wishes  to  appear  to 
dread,  though  his  fears  are  very  visible,  the  influence  of 
Count  Hertzberg,  who  is  still  detained  at  Sans  Souci, 
but,  as  I  think,  only  for  the  sake  of  his  conversation,  — 
at  least,  as  far  as  respects  the  old  King.  This  Count 
Hertzberg  has  openly  espoused  the  English  system ;  but, 
though  the  flatteries  of  Ewart*  and  his  secret  arts  have 
much  profited  by  the  long  contempt  in  which  the  French 
Embassy  have  held  this  Minister,  I  believe  his  principal 
reason  for  attaching  himself  to  England  is  because 
Prince  Henry,  his  implacable  enemy,  is  the  avowed  and 
fanatical  protector  of  the  French  system;  and  because 
the  Count  imagines  he  cannot  otherwise  make  himself 
indispensably  necessary  to  the  opposite  party;  for 
which  reason  he  clothes  himself  in  the  uniform  of  the 
Stadtholder. 

In  consequence  of  this,  and  persuaded  as  I  am  that 
Prince  Henry  has  not  sufficient  influence  over  the 
successor  (who  is  weary  of  avuncular  despotism)  to  dis- 
place Hertzberg,  who  will  continually  batter  his  enemy 
in  breach,  by  boasting,  by  meannesses,  by  a  faithful 
portrait  of  the  Prince's  creatures,  and  by  the  jealousy 
with  which  he  will  inspire  the  new  King  against  Prince 
Henry,  who,  if  he  be  anything,  will  be  master;  con- 

*  Then  Secretary  to  the  Embassy,  and  later  the  English  Ambassadof 
at  Berlin. 
(56) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  57 

vinced  also  that  he  (Hertzberg)  is  useful  to  France, 
which  is  influenced  by  the  uncle  because  he  holds  the 
English  system  in  abhorrence  I  have  exerted  every 
effort  to  induce  Prince  Henry  (who  wants  nothing  but 
dissimulation)  to  reconcile  himself  with  Count  Hertz- 
berg,  and  thus  put  his  nephew  out  of  fear.  This  he 
might  with  the  greater  security  do,  because  Hertzberg, 
relative  to  him,  could  be  nothing  more  than  a  first  clerk, 
who,  if  he  should  act  uprightly,  would  make  as  good  a 
clerk  as  another ;  and  who,  should  he  endeavor  to  deceive, 
might  be  the  more  easily  crushed,  after  having  been 
admitted  a  colleague. 

I  have  had  much  difficulty  in  persuading  him,  for 
Baron  Knyphausen,  the  brother-in-law  of  Hertzberg,  and 
his  irreconcilable  enemy,  because  that  their  interests 
clash,  is  possessed  of  the  entire  political  confidence  of 
the  Prince,  of  which  he  is  worthy,  for  he  is  a  very  able 
man,  and  perhaps  the  only  able  man  in  Prussia;  but 
as  he  is  in  danger  of  a  confirmed  palsy  as  his  mind 
and  body  both  decay,  and  as  the  Prince  himself  per- 
ceives they  do,  I  was  able  to  effect  my  purpose  by 
dwelling  on  all  these  circumstances,  while  I  heaped 
exaggerated  praise  on  Baron  Knyphausen,  and  expressed 
infinite  regret  for  his  situation;  so  that  I  have  prevailed 
on  the  Prince,  and  have  personally  received  a  commis- 
sion to  negotiate  an  accommodation  between  him  and 
Hertzberg;  for  which  purpose  I  shall  go  the  day  after 
to-morrow  to  Potsdam. 

What  may  I  augur  from  all  this?  Weakness  only  and 
incoherency.  It  appears  indubitable  that  petty  cabals, 
the  fine  arts,  the  blues,  the  subalterns,  the  wardrobe, 
and  particularly  the  mystics,  will  engross  the  new  King. 
I  have  anecdotes  innumerable  on  this  subject,  by  which 
I  shall  endeavor  to  profit,  and  which  I  shall  communi- 
cate in  good  time.  Has  he  any  system?  I  believe  not. 
Any  understanding?  Of  that  I  doubt.  Any  character?  I 
cannot  tell;  my  present  opinion  is  that  no  conclusions, 
for  or  against,  ought  yet  to  be  drawn. 

To  memorials  exceedingly  well  drawn  up  by  Prince 
Henry  and  Baron  Knyphausen,  all  tending  to  demonstrate 
that,  should  Prussia  attach  itself  to  the  English  system, 


58  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

fifteen  years  hence  Frederick  William  will  be  the  Marquis 
of  Brandenburg,  he  gives  replies  which  are  slow,  vague, 
laconic,  and  hieroglyphic.  He  wrote  the  other  day,  for 
example  (I  saw  the  letter),  "  THE  PRINCE  OF  THE  ASTURIAS 
is  ALL  ENGLISH.  w  Baron  Boden,  however,  who  is  his  con- 
fidential correspondent,  and  who  has  lately  remained  shut 
up  with  him  a  whole  week  in  his  garden  at  Potsdam, 
has  protested  that  the  dispositions  of  the  successor  are 
wholly  French,  and  that  he  had  charged  him  to  endeavor 
to  convert  Hertzberg.  Remark  this.  Remark,  still  further, 
that  Boden  is  a  man  of  low  cunning,  who  may  wish  to 
deceive  Prince  Henry,  in  whose  service  he  formerly  was, 
with  whom  he  quarreled,  and  to  whom  he  is  now  recon- 
ciled,—  Heaven  knows  by  what  means.  Observe,  once 
again,  that  the  Prince  of  Salm-Kirburg  has  also  been 
(nearly  about  the  same  time)  a  week  concealed  at  Pots- 
dam. What  inconsistency? 

It  is  the  advice  of  Prince  Henry  that  Boden,  who  is 
returned  to  Paris,  should  be  tampered  with.  He  also 
wishes  (for  your  great  men  do  not  disdain  little  means) 
that  a  lady  should  be  sent  hither,  of  a  fair  complexion, 
rather  fat,  and  with  some  musical  talents,  who  should 
pretend  to  come  from  Italy,  or  anywhere  but  France; 
who  shall  have  had  no  public  amour;  who  should  appear 
rather  disposed  to  grant  favors  than  to  display  her  pov- 
erty, etc.,  etc.  Some  elegant  trifles  would  not  be  amiss, 
but  take  care  not  to  forget  the  man  is  avaricious.  The 
French  letters,  at  least  those  which  I  shall  show,  ought 
to  speak  well  of  him,  and  to  report  that  the  King  has 
spoken  favorably  of  him;  particularly  that  he  has  said: 
"  This  Prince,  like  me,  will  be  a  worthy  man. w  Repeti- 
tion might  be  made  of  the  success  of  Prince  Henry  in 
France;  but  in  this  I  would  advise  moderation,  for  I 
believe  Prince  Henry  has  spoken  too  much  himself  on 
that  subject;  he  has  pretended  to  prophesy  concerning 
the  new  reign,  and  predictions  are  disagreeable.  Let  me 
add  it  is  affirmed  that,  could  the  new  King  be  gained, 
he  would  become  the  most  faithful  and  the  most  fervent 
of  allies;  to  this  his  uncle  Henry  pledges  his  honor  and 
his  head;  and,  indeed,  the  Prince  of  Prussia  has  never 
forfeited  his  word.  It  is  added,  as  you  may  well  believe, 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  59 

that  it  is  neither  possible  nor  proper  to  require  more,  for 
in  fine  we  are  suspected,  and  with  good  reason,  etc.,  etc. 
You  will  imagine  France  has  not  been  thus  treated 
without  any  pleadings  in  the  behalf  of  Prussia;  and 
the  advocates  have  pretended  to  prove  (the  map  on  the 
table),  alike  by  military  and  political  details,  that  the 
alliance  of  Prussia  would  be  much  more  effectual  to  France, 
against  England,  than  that  of  Austria.  If  it  be  requested, 
I  will  draw  up  a  memorial,  according  to  the  grounds  that 
have  been  given  me.  Nor  is  it  at  all  required  that  we 
should  quarrel  with  Vienna;  nothing  more  is  asked  than 
a  treaty  of  confraternity,  agreeable  to  the  guarantee  of 
the  treaty  of  Westphalia;  a  treaty  well  known  at  all 
Courts,  and  with  this  only  secret  article  that,  should 
there  be  any  infringement  of  the  peace,  we  then  should 
go  further;  and  if  at  the  present  a  treaty  should  be  re- 
fused, reciprocal  letters  between  the  two  Kings,  sealed 
and  so  left  till  some  event  should  happen,  would  be 
deemed  satisfactory.  In  short,  a  pledge  is  demanded 
against  the  Austrian  system;  and  the  written  word  of 
honor  of  the  King  of  France  will  be  accepted.  No  sub- 
sidies are  or  will  in  any  case  be  asked;  perhaps  even 
Prussia  will  pay  subsidies  to  Brunswick  and  Hesse. 
Great  complaints  are  made  of  France  for  having  per- 
mitted and  even  favored  the  German  confederation. 
<(  For  must  not  Germany,  soon  or  late,  assume  some  con- 
sistent form?  Must  not  Prussia  acquire  a  frontier?  And 
what  other  means  are  there  than  those  of  secularization, 
which  by  this  confederacy  are  interdicted?  How  other- 
wise arrange  the  affairs  of  Saxony  than  by  Westphalia 
and  Liege?"  This  latter  phrase  appeared  to  me  very 
remarkable. 

I  do  not  nor  cannot  at  present  mean  to  send  anything 
more  than  the  great  outlines.  Prince  Henry  is  French, 
and  so  will  live  and  die.  Will  he  have  any  influence  ? 
I  know  not.  He  is  too  pompous;  and  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  of  a  very  different  complexion,  is  the  man 
necessary  to  the  King  and  the  country,  though  he  is  not 
loved  by  the  former.  However,  I  am  supplied  with  the 
secret  means  of  correspondence,  inquiry,  and  success; 


60  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

and  it  could  not  be  more  made  a  common  cause  between 
us.  I  am  promised  that  my  services  to  my  country  shall 
be  amply  repaid  on  the  day  an  alliance  is  concluded 
with  France,  etc.,  etc. 

I  forgot  a  curious  fact.  The  Heir  Apparent  wrote  to 
Boden,  before  his  journey  to  Berlin,  to  inquire  what  the 
people  of  Paris  thought  of  him.  tt  That  you  will  be  feeble, 
indolent,  and  governed,*  was  the  substance  of  Boden 's 
reply.  The  Prince,  as  he  read  the  letter,  stamped  with 
his  foot,  and  exclaimed :  w  I  have  suffered  by  myself  and 
I  will  reign  by  myself.® 

POSTSCRIPT. —  By  the  natural  discharge  of  the  water 
from  the  legs,  which  may  be  calculated  at  a  pint  per 
diem,  the  swelling  of  the  scrotum  has  disappeared;  the 
patient  imagines  the  general  inflation  is  diminished.  It 
is  probable  he  is  feverish  every  night;  but  of  this  he 
endeavors  to  remain  ignorant.  His  appetite  is  so  extraor- 
dinary that  he  generally  eats  of  ten  or  twelve  of  the 
highest  dishes.  His  supper  and  breakfast  consist  of 
smoked  tongues,  bread,  butter,  and  a  large  quantity  of 
pepper.  If  he  feel  his  stomach  oppressed  by  its  load, 
which  is  usually  the  case,  he  has  recourse  an  hour  or 
two  after  dinner  to  a  dose  of  anima  rhei.  He  wishes  to 
have  six  or  seven  motions  in  the  twenty-four  hours,  ex- 
clusive of  clysters.  From  all  this  you  may  gather  the 
result,  which  is  that  we  are  incontestibly  at  the  last 
scene,  more  or  less  protracted. 


LETTER  XIV. 

August  i  yth,  1786. 

ALL  is  over!  —  Frederick  William  reigns  —  and  one  of 
the  grandest  characters  that  ever  occupied  the 
throne  has  burst  one  of  the  finest  molds  that  nature 
ever  organized! 

The  vanity  of  friendship  was  highly  interested  that 
you  should  be  the  first  informed  of  this  event;  and  my 
measures  were  all  most  carefully  taken.  On  Wednesday, 
at  eight  in  the  morning,  I  knew  he  was  as  ill  as  pos- 
sible; that  the  preceding  day  the  hour  of  appointment 
for  the  day  following  was  noon,  instead  of  eleven 
o'clock,  as  was  before  customary ;  that  he  had  not  spoken 
to  his  secretaries  till  midday,  who  had  been  waiting 
from  five  in  the  morning;  that,  however,  the  dispatches 
had  been  clear  and  precise;  and  that  he  still  had  eaten 
excessively,  and  particularly  a  lobster.  I  further  knew 
that  the  prodigious  foulness  of  the  sick  chamber,  and 
the  damp  clothes  of  the  patient,  which  he  wore  without 
changing,  appeared  to  have  brought  on  a  species  of 
putrid  fever;  that  the  slumbers  of  this  Wednesday 
approached  lethargy;  that  every  symptom  foreboded  an 
apoplectic  dropsy,  a  dissolution  of  the  brain;  and  that, 
in  fine,  the  scene  must  close  in  a  few  hours. 

At  one  o'clock  I  took  an  airing  on  horseback,  on  the 
road  to  Potsdam,  impelled  by  I  know  not  what  fore- 
boding, and  also  to  observe  the  meanderings  of  the 
river,  which  is  on  the  right,  when  a  groom,  riding  full 
speed,  came  for  the  physician  Zelle,  who  received  orders 
to  make  all  haste,  and  who  instantly  departed.  I  soon 
was  informed  that  the  groom  had  killed  a  horse. 

I  was  thrown  into  some  perplexity.  That  the  city 
gates  would  be  shut  was  certain;  it  was  even  possible 
that  the  drawbridges  of  the  island  of  Potsdam  would  be 
raised  the  moment  death  should  take  place,  and  should 
this  happen  by  uncertainty  would  continue  as  long  as  it 

(61) 


62  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

should  please  the  new  King.  On  the  first  supposition  — 
how  send  off  a  courier?  There  were  no  means  of  scaling 
the  ramparts  or  the  palisades,  without  being  exposed 
to  a  fray,  for  there  are  sentinels  at  every  forty  paces 
behind  the  palisades,  and  at  every  fifty  behind  the  wall. 
What  was  to  be  done?  I  had  not  received,  could  not 
receive  any  orders;  I  could  only  use  my  own  resources. 
And  ought  I  to  expose  myself  to  ridicule,  by  sending 
intelligence  already  known,  or  concerning  an  event  so 
well  foreseen?  Was  the  loss  or  gain  of  a  week  worth 
the  expense  of  a  courier?  Had  I  been  Ambassador,  the 
certain  symptoms  of  mortality  would  have  determined 
me  to  have  sent  off  an  express  before  death.  For  what 
addition  was  the  word  death?  How  was  I  to  act  in  my 
present  situation?  It  certainly  was  most  important  to 
serve,  and  not  merely  to  appear  to  have  served.  I 
hastened  to  the  French  Ambassador.  He  was  not  at 
home ;  he  dined  at  Charlottenburg.  No  means  of  joining 
him  at  Berlin.  I  dressed  myself,  hurried  to  Schoen- 
hausen,  and  arrived  at  the  palace  of  the  Queen  as  soon 
as  the  Ambassador.  He  had  not  been  informed  of  par- 
ticulars, and  did  not  imagine  the  King  was  so  ill;  not  a 
Minister  believed  it ;  the  Queen  had  no  suspicion  of  it ; 
she  only  spoke  to  me  of  my  dress,  of  Rheinsberg,  and  of 
the  happiness  she  had  there  enjoyed  when  Princess 
Royal.  Lord  Dalrymple,  with  whom  I  am  too  intimate 
to  admit  of  dissembling  what  my  opinion  was,  assured 
me  I  was  deceived.  (<  That  may  be, B  replied  I ;  but  I 
whispered  to  our  Ambassador  that  I  had  my  intelligence 
from  the  sick  couch,  and  that  he  ought  to  believe  stock- 
jobbers had  as  good  information  as  the  diplomatic  body.* 
I  know  not  whether  he  believed  me;  but,  like  me,  he 
would  not  sit  down  to  play,  and  left  the  company  soon 
enough  to  send  news  of  the  approach  of  death. 

I  still  had  great  reason  to  be  diffident  of  the  activity 
of  our  Embassy.  How  did  I  act  ?  I  sent  a  man,  on 
whom  I  could  depend,  with  a  strong  and  swift  horse  to 
a  farm,  four  miles  from  Berlin,  from  the  master  of  which 
I  had  some  days  before  received  two  pairs  of  pigeons,  an 

*  It  will  here  be  perceived  this  was  intended  to  give  the  French 
Ambassador  to  understand  that  he  had  no  competitor. 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  63 

experiment  on  the  flight  of  which  had  been  made;  so 
that,  unless  the  bridges  of  the  isle  of  Potsdam  were 
raised,  I  acted  with  certainty;  and,  that  I  might  not 
have  a  single  chance  against  me,  for  I  thought  the  news 
tardy  in  arriving,  I  sent  M.  de  Nolde"  by  the  daily  stage, 
with  orders  to  wait  at  the  bridges  of  the  island.  He  was 
acquainted  with  the  station  of  my  other  man ;  the  raising 
of  the  bridges  would  speak  plainly  enough ;  he  had  money 
sufficient  to  push  forward;  there  was  no  human  power 
apparently  that  could  counteract  me,  for  my  gentry  had 
not  a  single  Prussian  post  to  pass,  and  were  to  proceed 
to  Saxony,  taking  care  not  to  go  through  any  fortified 
place;  and  they  had  their  route  ready  traced. 

M.  de  Nolde*  was  departing  at  half  past  six  in  the 
morning,  with  the  stage,  when  General  Goertz,  aide-de- 
camp to  the  late  King,  arriving  full  speed,  called  aloud: 
(<  In  the  King's  name,  lower  the  portcullis,  *  and  M.  de 
Nolde"  was  obliged  to  turn  back!  Five  minutes  after,  I 
was  on  horseback;  my  horses  had  passed  the  night  sad- 
dled; and,  that  I  might  omit  nothing,  I  hastened  to  the 
French  Ambassador.  He  was  asleep.  I  wrote  to  him 
immediately  that  I  knew  a  certain  mode  of  conveyance, 
if  he  had  anything  to  send.  He  answered,  and  I  keep 
his  note  as  a  curious  proof  if,  which,  however,  to  me  ap- 
pears impossible,  the  Comte  de  Vergennes  keeps  no 
courier,*  —  "The  Comte  d'Esterno  has  the  honor  to  re- 
turn thanks  to  Mirabeau,  but  cannot  profit  by  his  oblig- 
ing offer." 

I  then  reflected,  either  he  had  sent  off  a  courier,  who 
only  could  convey  the  news  of  the  King's  extreme  danger, 
consequently  there  must  be  something  to  add,  or  he  had 
received  orders  not  to  send  any;  otherwise  his  apathy 
was  wholly  inconceivable.  I,  moreover,  knew  that  the 
Saxon  envoy  had  sent  off  his  chasseur  on  the  eve,  so  that 
he  was  twenty  hours  and  forty  leagues  in  advance  with 
me;  it  therefore  was  wholly  improbable  that  M.  de 
Vibraye  at  Dresden  should  not  hear  of  the  King's  danger. 
The  same  might  be  conjectured  of  the  aide-de-camp  Wit- 
tinkoff,  who  bore  the  news  to  the  Duchess  Dowager  of 

*The  Comte  de  Vergennes  first  read  the  news  in  the  «Leyden 
Gazette. » 


64  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

Brunswick,  and  would  certainly  spread  it,  so  that  noth- 
ing was  left  for  me  till  absolute  death  should  happen. 
After  considering,  I  did  not  find  we  were  rich  enough  to 
throw  a  hundred  guineas  away;  I  therefore  renounced  all 
my  fine  projects,  which  had  cost  me  some  thought,  some 
trouble,  and  some  guineas;  and  I  let  fly  my  pigeons  to 
my  man  with  the  word  RETURN. 

Have  I  done  well,  or  ill?  Of  this  I  am  ignorant;  but 
I  had  no  express  orders,  and  sometimes  works  of  super- 
erogation gain  but  little  applause.  I  have  thought  it  my 
duty  to  send  you  this  account;  first,  because  it  may  be 
of  service  (observe  that  several  prizes  have  thus  been 
gained) ;  and  secondly,  to  prove  that  I  wanted  neither 
zeal  nor  activity,  but  effrontery. 

The  new  King  remained  all  Thursday  at  Sans  Souci, 
in  the  apartment  of  General  Moellendorf.  His  first  act 
of  sovereignty  was  to  bestow  the  order  of  the  Black  Eagle 
on  Count  Hertzberg.  At  five  in  the  morning,  his  Majesty 
was  busy  with  the  secretaries  of  the  late  King.  This 
morning  he  was  on  horseback  in  the  streets  of  Berlin, 
accompanied  by  his  eldest  son.  Thursday  presented  a 
spectacle  worthy  of  observation. 

There  were  many  wet  eyes,  even  among  the  foreign 
Ambassadors;  for  they  were  all  present,  the  French  ex- 
cepted,  when  the  troops  took  the  oath  of  allegiance. 

The  ceremony  is  awful,  and  would  be  more  so  if  the 
oath,  which  the  soldiers  repeat  word  by  word,  were 
not  so  long.  Yet  this  vast  military  paraphernalia,  that 
multitude  of  soldiers,  who  all  the  morning  swarmed  in 
the  streets,  and  the  precipitate  administering  of  the  legion- 
ary oath,  seem  but  to  me  too  exclusively  to  proclaim  the 
military  power;  seem  but  to  say:  I  AM  MORE  ESPECIALLY 

THE  KlNG  OF  THE  SOLDIERS.  I  COMMIT  MYSELF  TO  MY  ARMY, 
BECAUSE  I  AM  NOT  CERTAIN  OF  POSSESSING  A  KINGDOM.  I 

am  persuaded  these  military  forms  will  be  mitigated 
under  the  new  reign. 


LETTER   XV. 

August  1 8th,  1786. 

PRINCE    HENRY    received    information    of   the    decease 
somewhat  late;  not  till  yesterday,  the  seventeenth, 
at  midnight.     But  this,  perhaps,  was  occasioned  by 
their  desire  to  send  him  one  of  his  favorite  officers,  who 
was  a  very  bad  horseman.      The  letter  of  the  King  was 
a  page  and  a  half  in  length,  written   by  his   own   hand, 
and  inviting  the  Prince  to  come,  who   arrived   to-day  at 
three  in    the   afternoon.      As    soon    as   it   was    dark,  his 
aide-de-camp  came  for  me;  and  what  follows  is  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Prince's  narrative. 

He  has  had  an  interview  of  an  hour  and  a  half  with 
the  King,  but  is  no  further  advanced  in  the  knowledge 
of  what  he  shall  hereafter  be.  The  King  was  devoid  of 
ostentation  in  his  behavior  to  his  family;  and  was  very 
much  moved  with  the  Prince,  says  the  latter,  but  no  way 
communicative.  The  uncle  only  attempted  to  speak  of 
foreign  politics.  His  request  in  behalf  of  his  favorite, 
Tauensien,  captain  and  aide-de-camp  to  his  Royal  High- 
ness, was  immediately  granted. 

<(  Resolved  on  the  French  system,  but  desirous  of  see- 
ing — }>  (<  Why  ? w  (<  Dignity,  prudence,  the  alarming  dis- 
contents of  Holland. n  (<  Are  you  brother  or  King  ?  as 
brother  interest  yourself;  as  King  do  not  interfere,  you 
will  but  have  the  greater  influence."  "Your  father, 
whose  name  you  cannot  pronounce  without  weeping,  was 
as  much  French  as  I  am;  this  I  will  demonstrate  by  his 
letters. w  (<  Oh,  I  have  seen  proofs  of  that, w  replied  the 
King,  (<in  those  of  the  Queen  of  Sweden.* 

"Vienna. w  (< Advances  it  is  supposed  will  be  made; 
they  will  be  accepted;  the  war  of  peace  will  actually  be 
concluded. J> 

5  (65) 


66  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

w  The  English  system  ? }>  <(  God  preserve  me  from  it ! w  * 
<(  Russia  ?  w  <(  It  has  scarcely  been  thought  on. " 

The  whole  day  passed  in  well-managed  artifice.  The 
King  was  on  horseback  with  his  eldest  son ;  he  addressed 
his  generals  with  caresses  of  every  kind :  <(  If  you  serve 
less  faithfully  than  formerly,  I,  by  being  obliged  to 
punish,  shall  be  the  person  punished. >J  He  spoke  a  lit- 
tle more  seriously  to  the  Ministers,  with  whom,  not- 
withstanding, he  dined.  Severely  to  the  secretaries  — <(  1 
well  know  you  have  been  guilty  of  indiscretions ;  I  would 
advise  you  to  change  your  behavior." 

Hertzberg  hitherto  preserves  all  his  consequence.  The 
King  has  not  once  pronounced  his  name  to  Prince  Henry, 
nor  the  Prince  to  the  King.  His  Majesty,  however, 
tenderly  embraced  Count  Finckenstein,  a  true  French 
knight-errant,  and  the  only  person,  after  Knyphausen, 
in  whom  Prince  Henry  confides;  that  is  to  say,  willingly. 
*  I  thank  you, M  said  the  King,  (<  for  the  eminent  services 
you  have  been  so  indefatigable  in  rendering  my  uncle; 
and  I  request  you  will  act  in  the  same  manner  for  my 
interest."  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Count  Finckenstein  is 
the  implacable  enemy  of  Hertzberg,  but  the  uncle  of  the 
dearly  beloved  Mademoiselle  Voss. 

The  will  is  to  be  opened  to-morrow,  in  presence  of 
those  interested.  The  King  will  not  attempt  to  alter  a 
single  line,  one  article  excepted,  the  necessity  of  erasing 
which  he  will  submit  to  his  uncles.  The  old  Monarch 
has  been  generous.  He  has  bequeathed  Prince  Henry 
two  hundred  thousand  crowns  and  a  handsome  ring, 
exclusive  of  what  will  revert  to  him  by  the  family  agree- 
ment. The  rest  are  likewise  well  treated,  but  not  so 
magnificently. 

The  funeral  ceremony  afforded  Prince  Henry  a  proper 
excuse  for  remaining;  it  is  to  be  performed  at  Potsdam. 
The  King  will  depart  thence  to  receive  homage  in  Prus- 
sia and  Silesia;  this  is  an  old  custom  of  the  country. 
Prince  Henry  will  come  to  an  explanation  previous  to 
his  journey;  but  he  is  determined  to  wait  as  long  as 
possible,  that  the  King  may  begin  the  subject  himself. 

*  It  is  Hertzberg  who  debates  warmly  for  Holland;  and  beneath 
this  mask  the  tip  of  the  English  ear  appears. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  67 

Speaking  of  me,  his  Majesty  said:  (<I  suspect  he  is 
ordered  to  observe  me ;  his  love  *  for  the  Emperor  prob- 
ably will  not  expose  him  to  the  temptation  of  speaking 
ill  of  me,  when  there  is  nothing  ill  to  be  spoken.® 

Prince  Henry  fears  that,  the  mode  of  life  excepted,  the 
method  and  especially  the  ceremonies  of  Government 
will  be  continued.  He  has  charged  me  to  mention  that 
Comte  d'Esterno  is  much  too  cold,  too  distant,  too  entirely 
an  Ambassador,  for  the  new  King.  He  entreats  our 
Ministry  not  to  be  tedious  in  bargaining  concerning  the 
pledges  of  confidence. 

It  is  said,  and  I  forgot  to  ask  Prince  Henry,  who  per- 
haps does  not  know,  whether  it  be  or  be  not  true,  that 
the  King  has  sent  for  the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  The 
Minister,  Schulemburg,  is  in  danger.  Prince  Henry,  by 
whom  he  has  so  long  been  hated  and  decried,  is  resolved 
to  give  him  support.  Schulemburg  returned  only  this 
morning.  He  has  composed,  or  rather  made  Struensee 
compose,  an  apologetic  memorial,  adroit  and  sophistical, 
in  which  he  has  imputed  to  the  late  King  that  order  of 
affairs  which  he  proposes  to  remedy.  He  declaims  against 
monopolies, —  he,  who  is  himself  at  the  head  of  all  the 
monopolies;  but  he  endeavors  to  prove  they  cannot  be 
suddenly  reformed,  especially  that  of  the  maritime  com- 
pany. 

*This  is  ironical. 


LETTER  XVI. 

August,  22d,   1786. 

PRINCE  HENRY  is  singularly  well  satisfied  with  the  new 
King,  who  the  day  before  yesterday  (Sunday)  spent 
the  greatest  part  of  the  afternoon  with  his  uncle. 
The  latter  went  to  him  in  the  morning  to  know  the 
watchword.  He  pretends  his  nephew  indicates  an  entire 
confidence  in  him;  but  I  fear  he  interprets  compliments 
into  pledges  of  trust.  He  affirms  the  downfall  of  Hertz- 
berg  approaches ;  this  I  do  not  believe.  (<  I  and  my 
nephew, w  said  the  Prince,  <(  have  been  very  explicit ; w 
but  I  doubt  the  nephew  has  deceived  the  uncle.  The 
conciliating  temper  of  the  King,  and  his  good-nature, 
which  induce  him  to  receive  all  with  kindness,  may  like- 
wise lead  to  error,  without  intending  deception;  and 
these  rather  prove  he  possesses  sensibility  than  strength 
of  mind. 

Prince  Henry  affirms  that  the  King  is  entirely  French. 
He  requests  that  no  attention  may  be  paid  to  the  send- 
ing of  Colonel  or  Major  Geysau  to  London,  with  acces- 
sion compliments;  these,  he  affirms,  relate  only  to  the 
family.  The  King  has  besides  been  deceived;  he  was 
told  that  the  Court  of  St.  James  had  sent  compliments 
at  the  death  of  King  George,  which  is  not  true.  This, 
it  is  added,  is  an  artifice  of  Count  Hertzberg.  Prince 
Henry  did  not  arrive  soon  enough  to  prevent  the  thing 
being  done;  were  it  to  do  again  it  should  be  otherwise. 
(Remark,  it  is  the  Prince  himself  who  speaks.)  No  one 
has  been  sent  either  to  Vienna  or  to  Petersburg.  (Not 
to  Vienna,  to  the  chief  of  the  Empire,  who  is  almost  as 
near  a  relation  as  the  King  of  England.  And  as  to 
Petersburg,  Romanzow  has  made  such  bitter  complaints 
that  Count  Finckenstein,  moderate  as  he  is,  demanded 
whether  he  had  received  orders  from  his  Court  to  speak 
in  that  style.)  But  it  is  singular  enough  that  envoys 
have  been  sent  everywhere  else;  and  particularly  Count 

(68) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  69 

Charles  Podewils  (brother  to  him  who  is  at  Vienna)  is 
gone  to  bear  the  news  to  Sweden.  This  is  departing 
from  the  old  system,  to  which,  it  is  said,  the  King  means, 
in  other  respects,  to  adhere;  for  the  King  of  Sweden 
was  held  in  aversion  by  the  late  King;  nor  is  he  less 
hated  by  Prince  Henry.  Count  Stein,  a  kind  of  domes- 
tic favorite,  is  gone  to  Saxony,  Weymar,  Deux- Fonts,  etc. 

Prince  Henry  wishes  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs 
should  write,  and  immediately,  that  the  Court  of  France 
hopes  the  new  King  will  confirm  the  friendship  his  pred- 
ecessor began;  and  should  give  it  to  be  understood  that 
all  the  Prussian  Ministers  are  not  supposed  to  mean  as 
well,  toward  France,  as  the  King  himself  (I  am  not  at 
all  of  this  opinion;  for  this  would  be  to  distinguish 
Hertzberg,  and  to  render  the  war  against  our  Cabinet 
more  inveterate.  If  the  downfall  of  this  Minister  be 
necessary,  it  can  be  effected  only  by  taxing  him  with 
governing  the  King),  and  that  the  reciprocity  of  good 
will  and  good  offices  may,  and  ought  to,  produce  a  more 
intimate  connection.  He  wishes  M.  de  Calonne  might 
write  soon  to  him  ( Prince  Henry )  a  friendly  and  ostensi- 
ble letter,  but  which  ought  to  be  sent  by  safe  hands; 
that  it  should  be  recommended  to  Comte  d'Esterno  to 
smooth  his  brow;  and  he  is  particularly  desirous  a  mode 
of  somewhat  calming  the  affairs  of  Holland  should  be 
found,  and  that  this  act  should  be  much  praised  and 
insisted  on. 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick  has  been  sent  for,  and  is  to 
arrive  on  Thursday.  It  is  said  he  brings  another  will, 
which  was  deposited  in  his  hands.  The  first  was  not 
read  before  the  family,  but  only  in  presence  of  the  two 
uncles  and  the  two  Ministers.  The  legatees  have  all 
received  their  bequests.  The  date  of  this  will  is  1769. 
It  is  in  a  pompous  style,  and  is  written  with  labor  and 
declamation.  The  King  has  been  exceedingly  attentive  to 
specify  that  his  legacies  are  made  from  the  savings  of 
his  privy  purse. 

The  following  is  a  sketch  of  his  donations:  The  Queen 
has  an  annual  augmentation  to  her  income  of  ten  thou- 
sand crowns.  Prince  Henry  has  the  gross  sum  of  two 
hundred  thousand  crowns,  a  large  green  diamond,  a  lus- 


70  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

ter  of  rock  crystal  estimated  at  fifteen  thousand  crowns, 
a  set  of  eight  coach  horses,  two  led  horses  richly  capar- 
isoned, and  fifty  anteaux,  or  small  casks  of  Hungarian 
wine.  Prince  Ferdinand  the  gross  sum  of  fifty  thou- 
sand crowns,  and  some  Hungarian  wine.  Princess  Fer- 
dinand ten  thousand  crowns  annually  (the  reason  of  this 
was  that,  in  1769,  she  was  the  only  Princess  of  her 
house  who  had  any  children),  and  a  box.  Princess 
Henry  six  thousand  crowns  annually.  The  Duchess  Dow- 
ager of  Brunswick  ten  thousand  crowns  annually.  The 
Princess  Amelia  ten  thousand  crowns  annually,  and  all 
the  personal  plate  of  the  late  King.  The  Princess  of 
Wurtemberg  the  gross  sum  of  twenty  thousand  crowns. 
The  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  a  ring.  The  Landgrave  of 
Hesse  the  gross  sum  of  ten  thousand  crowns.  Prince 
Frederick  of  Brunswick  the  same.  The  reigning  Duke 
of  Brunswick  the  same,  with  eight  horses  (among  others, 
the  last  that  Frederick  mounted)  and  a  diamond  ring, 
estimated  at  twenty-two  thousand  crowns,  etc.,  etc., 
etc. 

The  King  has  confirmed  all  this  with  a  very  good 
grace.  The  only  article  that  he  will  not  agree  to  was  a 
strange  whim  of  the  late  King,  relative  to  the  interment 
of  his  body;  he  wished  to  be  buried  beside  his  dogs. 
Such  is  the  last  mark  of  contempt  which  he  thought 
proper  to  cast  upon  mankind.*  I  know  not  whether  the 
will  that  is  coming  will  be  equally  respected  with  that 

*  The  tongue  of  scandal  VERY  PUBLICLY,  that  is  to  say,  in  Prussia,  gives 
a  far  different  reason ;  but  it  is  one  so  revolting,  so  atrocious,  that  not 
only  charity  but  probability  leads  us  to  suspect  the  truth  of  SUCH  an  ac- 
cusation. Still,  his  love  for  his  dogs  while  living,  his  manner  of  treating 
them,  and  his  last  request  to  be  buried  by  their  side,  are  very  strange, 
or,  in  a  man  like  him,  very  whimsical  facts.  One  of  these  favorites,  a 
greyhound  bitch,  was  taken  at  the  battle  of  Sorr,  when  the  baggage 
was  plundered  by  Trenck  and  Nadasti.  Regardless  of  inferior  losses, 
the  King  was  in  the  act  of  writing  to  Nadasti,  to  request  his  bitch 
might  be  restored,  when  the  Austrian  general,  knowing  his  love  for 
the  animal,  which  was  itself  greatly  attached  to  him,  sent  it  back;  the 
bitch,  unperceived  by  the  Monarch,  leaped  upon  the  table  while  he 
was  writing,  and,  as  usual,  began  to  caress  him,  at  which  he  was  so 
affected  that  he  shed  tears.  The  day  before  he  had  cut  off  many  thou- 
sands of  men,  and  charged  his  DEAR  CHILDREN  to  give  no  Saxon 
quarter. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  71 

already  opened,  even  though  they  should  not  be  contra- 
dictory. 

As  to  the  situation  of  the  Court,  I  believe  the  truth  to 
be  that  Prince  Henry  exaggerates  his  ascendency;  and 
that  he  is  in  absolute  ignorance  of  the  King's  intentions. 
They  prattle  much  together,  but  there  is  no  single  point 
on  which  they  have  yet  come  to  any  stipulation.  True 
it  is  that  five  days  are  scarcely  yet  elapsed.  But  where- 
fore presume  ?  The  Prince  supports  the  Minister,  Schu- 
lemburg;  and  I  know  that  Schulemburg  found  the  King 
dry  and  cold.  He  had  one  choice  for  the  French  Em- 
bassy; and  I  know  the  King  has  another,  which  he  has 
not  even  concealed  from  the  Prince.  The  Monarch  hears 
all,  but  is  in  nothing  explicit.  Bishopswerder  himself 
perhaps  does  not  know  what  he  is  to  be,  and,  if  he  be 
prudent,  will  not  be  in  too  great  haste. 

I  have  twice  seen  Count  Hertzberg,  and  found  him  still 
the  same,  a  small  portion  of  dissimulation  excepted.  Ho 
very  positively  denied  being  English.  He  does  not  seem 
to  me  to  think  he  has  the  least  need  of  Prince  Henry, 
whom  he  has  not  been  to  visit  (which  is  very  marked, 
or  rather  indecent  behavior)  since  his  promotion  to  the 
Order  of  the  Black  Eagle.  I  wished  to  insinuate  to  him 
that  it  would  be  easy  to  consult  the  uncle  by  the  aid  of 
the  nephew;  this  he  declined,  but  gave  me  an  apologetic 
memorial  for  Prince  Henry,  relative  to  his  personal  dis- 
cussions with  Baron  Knyphausen.  Either  Prince  Henry 
or  Hertzberg,  or  both,  are  much  deceived.  Hertzberg 
certainly  sups  almost  every  night  with  the  King;  and 
the  opinion  of  some  well-informed  people  is  that  this 
Minister,  and  General  Moellendorf,  will  be  appointed  to 
educate  the  Prince  of  Prussia. 

The  Marquis  of  Luchesini  is  continued  in  his  place  by 
the  present  King;  but  hitherto  he  has  only  been  desired 
to  write  the  poem  for  the  funeral.  The  secretary  of 
Prince  Henry,  it  is  said,  is  to  compose  the  music;  and 
this  is  one  of  the  things  which  turn  the  uncle's  brain. 

I  have  sent  the  King  my  grand  Memorial  * ;  he  has 
only  acknowledged  having  received  it,  adding  that  I  might 
remain  persuaded  whatever  should  come  from  me  would 
*  The  Memorial  found  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 


72  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

give  him  pleasure;  and  that,  of  all  the  obliging  things 
that  were  said  to  him,  none  flattered  him  more  highly 
than  mine. 

P.  S. —  The  Ministers  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  yes- 
terday, about  three  o'clock;  hence,  no  probable  changes 
for  some  time  to  come.  Count  Arnim  Boytzemburg, 
sent  for  by  the  King,  arrived  with  all  haste,  and  passed 
the  evening  with  his  Majesty.  I  believe  him  proper  for 
nothing  but  a  place  about  Court;  it  may,  however,  have 
relation  to  the  Embassy  to  France,  but  more  probably  to 
the  place  of  Grand  Marshal,  or  that  of  Minister  of  the 
Landschafft,  a  kind  of  president  of  the  provinces,  who 
greatly  influences  the  assessments  of  the  taxes,  and  other 
internal  arrangements. 


LETTER  XVII. 

August  26th,    1786. 

I  FEAR  my  prophecies  will  be  accomplished.  Prince 
Henry  appears  to  me  to  have  gained  nothing  but 
bows  from  his  nephew.  One  article  of  the  will  of 
the  King's  grandfather  disposed  of  the  succession  of  cer- 
tain bailliages,  so  as  to  bequeath  an  accession  of  income, 
of  about  forty  or  fifty  thousand  crowns,  to  Prince  Henry, 
including  an  augmentation  of  the  revenue  of  Prince 
Ferdinand.  Circumstances  not  being  exactly  the  same 
now  as  supposed  by  the  testator,  the  Ministers  (that  is 
to  say,  Hertzberg)  have  pretended  that  this  bequest  no 
longer  was  legal;  and  the  king,  eluding  to  grant  the 
legacy,  has  made  a  proposal  to  his  uncle  to  have  the  suit 
determined  either  in  Germany,  France  or  Italy.  The 
Prince  has  written  an  ingenious  and  noble  letter  to  him, 
but  in  which  he  indicates  the  enemy.  The  King  has 
redoubled  his  outward  caresses  for  his  uncle,  and  has 
submitted  to  three  judges,  who  have  been  nominated  by 
the  Prince.  I  hence  conclude  that  the  uncle  will  gain 
the  suit  of  the  bailliages,  but  never  that  of  the  regency. 
Hertzberg,  however,  has  commissioned  me  to  make 
some  advances  from  himself  to  the  Prince,  and  this  I 
think  is  a  sign  that  he  is  not  in  perfect  security.  I 
never  could  prevail  on  the  Prince  to  comply;  sometimes 
inflated,  sometimes  agitated,  he  neither  could  command 
his  countenance  nor  his  first  emotions.  He  is  deceitful, 
yet  knows  not  how  to  dissemble;  endowed  with  ideas, 
wit,  and  even  a  portion  of  understanding,  but  has  not  a 
single  opinion  of  his  own.  Petty  means,  petty  councils, 
petty  passions,  petty  prospects;  all  is  diminutive  in  the 
soul  of  that  man.  While  he  makes  gigantic  pretensions, 
he  has  a  mind  without  method;  is  as  haughty  as  an 
upstart,  and  as  vain  as  a  man  who  had  no  claim  to  re- 
spect ;  he  can  neither  lead  nor  be  led.  He  is  one  of  too 

(73) 


74  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

frequent  examples  that  insignificance  of  character  may 
stifle  the  greatest  qualities. 

The  thing  the  new  King  fears  the  most  is  being  thought 
to  be  governed;  and  in  this  respect  Prince  Henry,  of  all 
men,  is  the  least  adapted  to  the  Monarch;  who  I  believe 
would  consent  not  to  reign,  provided  he  might  only  be 
supposed  to  reign. 

Remarkable  change !  The  general  directory  is  restored 
to  the  footing  on  which  it  was  under  Frederick  William  I.* 
This  is  a  wise  act.  The  result  of  the  madness  of  innova- 
tion, under  Frederick  II.,  was  that,  of  all  the  Kings  in 
Europe,  he  was  the  most  deceived.  The  mania  of  ex- 
pediting the  whole  affairs  of  a  kingdom  in  one  hour  and 
a  half  was  the  cause  that  the  Ministers  were  each  of  them 
absolute  in  their  departments.  At  present,  all  must  be 
determined  in  a  committee;  each  will  have  occasion  of 
the  consent  and  sanction  of  all  the  rest.  In  a  word,  it 
is  a  kind  of  Council.  This,  no  doubt,  will  have  its  in- 
conveniences ;  but  how  are  inconveniences  to  be  avoided  ? 

The  edict  for  suppressing  the  Lotto  is  signed,  as  I  am 
assured.  I  shall  at  least  have  done  this  much  good  to 
the  country.  But  the  King  has  permitted  the  last  draw- 
ing, which  is  wrong;  there  ought  to  have  been  none 
under  his  reign.  Perhaps  it  is  only  popular  report. 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick  arrived  this  evening.  M. 
Ardenberg-Reventlau,  a  man  of  merit  and  his  favorite 
Minister  —  though  M.  Feronce  is  the  principal  —  preceded 
him,  and  was  here  at  a  quarter  after  four.  The  Duke 
was  admitted  to  see  his  Majesty,  who  rises  at  four  o'clock ; 
at  half  after  six  he  was  on  the  parade.  The  King  received 
him  with  neither  distance  nor  ardor.  Perhaps  nothing 
more  is  meant  by  this  journey  than  politeness.  Neces- 
sity only  could  make  such  a  man  Prime  Minister,  who 
will  not  trouble  himself  with  fruitless  efforts,  but  who  will 
be  very  tenacious  in  his  grasp.  I  shall  not  converse  with 
him  till  to-morrow.  The  will  he  brings  will  probably  be 
burned;  it  is  said  to  be  of.  a  much  earlier  date  than  the 
other,  and  as  far  back  as  1755. 

The  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel,  it  is  affirmed,  is  com- 
ing; also  the  Duke  of  Weymar,  the  Prince  de  Deux- 

*The  predecessor  of  the  late  King. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  75 

Fonts,  and  even  the  Duke  of  York.  Of  the  latter  I 
doubt. 

Hertzberg  pretends  that  the  King,  by  becoming  the 
pledge  of  the  Stadtholder,  ought  to  make  us  easy  con- 
cerning Holland,  but  he  has  not  told  us  who  shall  make 
the  pledge  respected. 

Prince  Henry  wishes  advice  should  be  sent  that  Count 
Hertzberg,  who  has  not  the  good  word  of  the  world,  ap- 
pears to  have  gained  the  entire  confidence  of  the  King, 
and  even  to  act  the  master.  This  last  imputation  is 
probably  the  most  effectual  method  to  procure  the  down- 
fall of  any  man,  under  the  present  sign. 

There  are  many  small  Court  favors  granted,  but  no 
considerable  place  bestowed.  I  have  attempted  to  recon- 
cile Hertzberg  and  Knyphausen,  which  I  was  in  a  train 
to  accomplish,  by  demonstrating  to  them  that  their  coali- 
tion would  erect  a  throne  which  could  not  be  shaken. 
Knyphausen  refused,  because,  alleged  he,  Hertzberg  is 
so  deceitful  it  can  never  be  known  whether  the  recon- 
ciliation is  or  is  not  sincere ;  a  and  it  is  better, w  said  the 
Baron,  <(  to  be  the  open  enemy  than  the  equivocal  friend 
of  a  man  whose  credit  is  superior  to  our  own." 

I  am  inclined  to  think  Hertzberg  must  be  displaced,  if 
we  wish  the  Prussians  should  become  French.  Three 
months  are  necessary  to  draw  any  conclusions  that  should 
be  at  all  reasonable.  I  again  repeat,  if  you  have  any 
grand  political  views,  relative  to  this  country  and  Ger- 
many, put  an  end  to  the  democratical  quarrels  of  Hol- 
land; which  are  only  the  disputes  of  cunning,  profitable 
to  those  who  have  their  fortunes  to  make,  but  not  to 
those  whose  fortunes  are  made. 


LETTER  XVIII. 

August  29th,  1786. 

To  PROPHESY  here  daily  becomes  more  difficult;  time 
only  can  afford  any  rational  prognostics.  The  King 
apparently  intends  to  renounce  all  his  old  habits; 
this  is  a  proud  undertaking.  He  has  made  three  visits 
to  Schoenhausen,*  nor  has  he  cast  one  look  on  Mademoi- 
selle Voss;  no  semblance  of  an  orgia;  not  one  woman's 
bosom  touched  since  he  has  sat  on  the  throne.  One  of 
his  confidants  proposed  a  visit  to  Charlottenburg.  ^No," 
replied  he;  "all  my  former  allurements  are  there. ®  He 
retires  before  ten  in  the  evening,  and  rises  at  four;  he 
works  excessively,  and  certainly  with  some  difficulty. 
Should  he  persevere,  he  will  afford  a  singular  example 
of  habits  of  thirty  years  being  vanquished.  This  will  be 
an  indubitable  proof  of  a  grand  character,  and  show 
how  we  have  all  been  mistaken.  But  even,  the  suppo- 
sition granted,  which  is  so  far  from  probable,  how  de- 
ficient are  his  understanding  and  his  means.  I  say  how 
deficient,  since  even  his  most  ecstatic  panegyrists  begin  by 
giving  up  his  understanding.  The  last  day  that  he 
exercised  the  troops  he  was  ridiculously  slow,  heavy, 
and  monotonous.  The  men  were  four  times  ranged  in 
columns,  and  concluded  with  parading.  This  continued 
three  hours,  and  in  the  presence  of  a  general  such  as  is 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  Everybody  was  dissatisfied. 
Yesterday,  the  first  Court  day,  he  was  ill;  he  forgot 
some  of  the  foreign  Ministers,  and  uttered  nothing  but  a 
few  commonplace  phrases,  hasty,  embarrassed,  and  ill- 
chosen;  this  scarcely  continued  five  minutes.  He  imme- 
diately left  us  to  go  to  church;  for  he  does  not  miss 
church;  and  religious  zeal,  homilies,  and  pulpit  flatteries 
already  begin  to  be  everywhere  heard  and  seen. 

Prince    Henry    has    gained    his     suit,    concerning    the 
bailliages,  as  I  had  foreseen ;  in  other  respects,  he  has  not 

*The  Queen's  Palace. 
(76) 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  77 

advanced  a  step,  consequently  has  gone  backward.  He 
dines  every  day  with  the  King,  and  does  wrong;  he 
affects  to  whisper  with  him,  and  does  wrong;  he  speaks 
to  him  of  public  affairs  incessantly,  and  does  wrong. 
The  King  goes  alone  to  visit  the  Duke  of  Brunswick; 
and  also  goes  in  company  with  Hertzberg,  or  meets  him 
at  the  Duke's.  The  latter  pretends  to  interfere  only  with 
the  army, — the  sole  thing  which,  according  to  him,  he 
understands.  I  have  never  yet  seen  him  in  private,  but 
he  has  appointed  me  an  audience  on  Wednesday  morn- 
ing. 

The  English  faction  continues  very  active,  and  this 
proves  there  are  difficulties  to  encounter.  In  reality,  it 
is  an  alliance  so  unnatural,  when  compared  to  ours,  that 
it  seems  to  me  we  should  not  suffer  ourselves,  though 
the  King  should  commit  blunders,  to  be  routed  by  his 
mistakes. 

The  Monarch  becomes  very  difficult  effectually  to  ob- 
serve. He  reverts  to  the  severe  ceremonies  of  German 
etiquette.  It  is  imagined  he  will  not  receive  foreigners, 
at  least  for  some  time.  I  know  all  that  can  be  learned 
from  subaltern  spies;  from  valets,  courtiers,  secretaries, 
and  the  intemperate  tongue  of  Prince  Henry;  but  there 
are  only  two  modes  of  influencing, —  which  are  to  give, 
or  rather  to  give  birth  to,  ideas  in  the  master,  or  in  his 
Ministers.  In  the  master!  How,  since  he  is  not  to  be 
approached  ?  In  the  Ministers !  It  is  neither  very  easy 
nor  very  prudent  to  speak  to  them  on  public  affairs,  I 
not  being  in  a  public  character ;  and  the  discussions  which 
chance  affords  are  short,  vague,  and  incomplete.  If  I 
am  supposed  capable  of  business,  I  ought  to  be  sent  to 
some  place  where  I  should  have  a  public  character.  I 
am  afraid  I  shall  here  cost  more  than  I  am  worth. 

Count  Goertz  goes  to  Holland ;  I  know  not  whether  in- 
stead of  Thulemeyer  or  ad  tempus.  He  is  followed  by 
the  son  of  Count  Arnim,  who  is  a  young  shoot  for  the 
corps  diplomatique.  Goertz  is  not  a  man  without  talents: 
when  sent  into  Russia,  under  every  kind  of  disadvantage, 
he  obtained  a  good  knowledge  of  the  country;  he  is  cold, 
dry,  and  ungracious;  but  subtle,  master  of  his  temper, 
though  violent,  and  a  man  of  observation.  That  he  is  of 


78  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

the  English  party  is  certain;  he  is  loyal  to  Hertzberg, 
and  convinced  that  the  alliance  of  Holland  and  France  is 
so  unnatural  it  must  soon  end.  I  own  I  think  as  he 
does,  especially  should  we  abuse  our  power. 

A  new  Ambassador  is  appointed,  in  petto^  for  France. 
I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  discover  who ;  but  Hertzberg 
supports  the  ridiculous  Goltz  with  all  his  power.  Schu- 
lemburg  daily  declines  in  favor.  The  maritime  company 
have  already  lost  their  monopoly  of  coffee,  of  which  there 
are  four  millions  and  a  half  pounds'  weight  consumed  in 
the  various  provinces  of  the  Prussian  monarchy.  Hence 
we  may  observe  that  the  free  use  of  coffee,  which  daily 
becomes  general  in  Germany,  is  the  cause  that  the  con- 
sumption of  beer  is  gradually  and  much  less.  The  same 
company  may  be  deprived  of  a  prodigious  profit  on  sugars ; 
but  it  will  be  in  vain  to  destroy  old  monopolies  only  to 
substitute  new,  though  they  should  be  for  the  profit  of 
the  King. 

The  personal  debts  of  his  Majesty  are  paying  off  by 
the  Minister,  Blumenthal;  it  is  said  there  are  tolerably 
great  reductions  made,  but  not  unjustly,  as  I  imagine, 
for  there  are  no  complaints  on  the  subject.  Exclusive 
of  the  Royal  Treasury,  Frederick  II.  has  left  savings  so 
great  that  they  will  scarcely  be  absorbed  by  the  personal 
debts  of  Frederick  William  II.  It  is  said  he  will  pay  off 
his  Italian  opera,  and  everybody  believes  there  will  be  a 
French  opera  instead.  This  certainly  would  be  no  trifling 
means  of  support  to  intrigue. 

The  freedom  of  scrutiny  is  restored  to  the  Academy, 
and  the  Germans  are  henceforward  to  be  admitted  mem- 
bers. I  regard  the  curatorship  of  this  body  as  a  favor 
conferred  on,  and  a  tolerable  resource  of  power  for, 
Hertzberg,  who  will  be  curator  by  title,  and  president  in 
reality.  The  presidency  of  the  Academy  is  so  truly  min- 
isterial that  the  late  Frederick  exercised  it  himself,  after 
the  decease  of  the  restless  and  morose  De  Maupertuis. 
Count  Hertzberg  said  to  me,  at  Court,  "You  are  a  com- 
pliment in  my  debt. M  <(  On  what  occasion  ? }>  <(  I  am 
curator  of  the  Academy;  which  title  gives  me  greater 
pleasure  and,  in  my  opinion,  is  more  honorable  than  a 
ribbon. "  Forty  persons  heard  our  discourse.  w  Cer- 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  79 

tainly,"  replied  I,  <(he  who  is  the  minister  of  knowledge 
may  well  be  called  the  Prime  Minister." 

The  King  will  not  ruin  himself  in  gifts;  he  has  hith- 
erto bestowed  only  prebendaries,  which  cost  him  noth- 
ing, except  a  pension  of  three  hundred  crowns,  on 
General  Levald.  I  am  informed  that  he  has  just  granted 
one  of  eight  hundred  crowns  —  to  the  poet  Rammler. 
It  would  perhaps  have  been  more  delicate  not  to  have 
begun  by  pensioning  fame,  and  her  trumpet. 


LETTER  XIX. 

September  zd,   1786. 

ALL  circumstances  confirm  my  predictions.  Prince 
Henry  and  his  nephew  have  almost  quarreled. 
The  uncle  is  inconsolable,  and  thinks  of  retiring  to 
Rheinsberg.  He  will  almost  certainly  return  during  the 
journey  of  the  King,  through  Prussia  and  Silesia.  Prob- 
ably we  shall  have  no  great  changes  before  the  Monarch 
has  performed  these  journeys,  if  then.  There  is  one, 
however,  besides  those  I  have  before  spoken  of,  which  is 
remarkable;  and  that  is,  a  commission  to  examine  the 
administration  of  the  customs, —  what  is  to  be  abrogated, 
what  preserved,  and  what  qualified,  especially  in  the 
excise. 

M.  Werder,  a  Minister  of  State,  and  the  intimate  friend 
of  Hertzberg,  the  enemy  of  Schulemburg  who  brought 
him  into  place,  and  father-in-law  to  the  secretary  of  the 
English  Embassy,  or  perhaps  to  his  wife,  is  at  the  head 
of  this  commission.  The  other  members  are  ridiculously 
selected;  but  the  very  project  of  such  a  reform  is  most 
agreeable  to  the  nation ;  as  much  so  as  the  pension  of 
eight  hundred  crowns  granted  to  the  poet  Rammler,  and 
the  promise  of  admission  of  Germans  into  the  Academy, 
is  to  the  distributors  of  renown.  It  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  the  people  have  not  been  led  to  hope  too  much ; 
and  whether  it  is  not  requisite  to  be  certain  of  substi- 
tutes, previous  to  the  promise  of  relief. 

The  King  goes  to  Prussia  attended  by  Messieurs  Hertz- 
berg  (for  the  King  to  be  attended  by  a  Minister  out  of 
his  department  is  unexampled),  Goltz,  surnamed  the  Tar- 
tar, Boulet,  a  French  engineer,  General  Goertz,  Gaudi,  and 
Bishopswerder. 

This  Goltz  the  Tartar  is  he  who,  in  the  last  campaign 

of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  raised  an  insurrection  of  fifty 

thousand    Tartars,    in   the    Crimea  and   the    neighboring 

countries;    who    were   marching   to   make  a  diversion   in 

(80) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  81 

favor  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  had  arrived  at  Bender, 
when  peace  was  concluded.  Notwithstanding  this,  Goltz 
can  boast  of  but  little  abilities ;  except  that  he  is  a  good 
officer,  and  ardently  active.  He  was  indebted  for  his 
great  and  singular  success  to  a  Dutchman  named  Bis 
kamp,  whom  he  met  with  in  the  Crimea.  He  attached 
himself  to  this  very  able  and  enterprising  man,  who  under- 
stood the  language,  knew  the  country,  and  served  Fred- 
erick II.  according  to  his  wishes;  by  whom,  indeed,  he 
was  well  paid.  This  Biskamp  is  at  Warsaw,  and  there 
forgotten,  which  is  very  strange.  I  have  supposed  the 
relating  this  anecdote,  which  is  but  little  known,  might 
be  interesting. 

Boulet  is  an  honest  man,  for  whom  the  King  shows 
some  affection,  and  to  whom  he  is  indebted  for  all  he 
knows  concerning  fortification. 

General  Goertz  is  the  brother  of  the  Goertz  who  is  go- 
ing to  Holland,  but  not  his  equal ;  he  is  artful  and  subtle, 
and  his  good  faith  is  of  a  suspicious  complexion. 

Gaudi  is  the  brother  of  the  celebrated  general  of  the 
same  name;  little  known  hitherto  as  the  Minister  of  the 
Prussian  department,  but  capable,  well-informed,  firm, 
decided,  and  indubitably  the  man  most  proper  to  influ- 
ence interior  arrangements  in  reconstructing  the  grand 
directory. 

Bishopswerder  you  are  acquainted  with ;  he  and  Boulet 
each  lately  received  the  commission  of  lieutenant  colo- 
nel. 

The  King  has  told  Schulemburg  that,  on  his  return 
from  Prussia,  he  will  determine  which  of  his  nine  de- 
partments he  shall  be  deprived  of.  He  and  his  wife  arc 
the  only  ministerial  family  who  are  not  invited  to  Court. 
The  probabilities  all  are  that  Schulemburg  will  demand 
leave  to  resign,  should  his  colleagues  continue  to  humble 
him,  and  the  King  to  treat  him  with  contempt.  But 
Striiensee  probably  will  keep  his  place,  and  he  then  pro- 
poses to  act,  in  concert  with  us,  in  our  public  funds; 
especially  should  the  King,  as  is  apparent,  commit  to  his 
charge  the  four  millions  of  crowns  which  he  means  to 
set  apart  for  the  operations  of  previous  finance.  Struen- 
see  is  the  only  man  who  understands  them.  This  is  a 
6 


82  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

subject  not  to  be  neglected,  as  it  hitherto  has  been,  even 
so  far  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  me  to  act  with  pro- 
priety. We  might  profit  by  him,  during  peace;  but  if 
unfortunately  the  news  which  is  whispered  be  true,  con- 
cerning the  increasing  ill  health  of  the  Elector  of  Bava- 
ria, depend  upon  war,  for  I  then  hold  it  inevitable.  Is 
this  a  time  for  us  to  exist  from  day  to  day,  as  we  do, 
when  each  month  (for  there  is  a  probability,  at  any 
time,  that  he  should  die  within  a  month)  menaces  all 
Europe  with  inextricable  confusion  ? 

M.  de  Larrey,  sent  from  the  Stadtholder  to  compliment 
the  King,  openly  affirms  it  is  impossible  the  disputes  of 
Holland  should  be  appeased  without  effusion  of  blood; 
and  the  speculations  of  Hertzberg  upon  this  subject  are 
boundless ;  but  the  secret  is  well  kept  by  those  who  sur- 
round the  King. 


LETTER    XX. 

TO    THE    DUG    DE 


September  ad,   1786. 

BY  WHAT  fatality,  monseigneur,  has  it  happened  that  I 
have  not  received  your  letter,  dated  the  sixteenth, 
till  this  day  ?  And,  still  more  especially,  why  was 
it  not  written  some  weeks  sooner  ?  The  importance  of  the 
proposition  with  which  it  concludes  will  never  be  fully 
understood;  and  which,  made  at  any  other  time,  except 
when  the  King  was  dying,  would  have  been  willingly  ac- 
cepted. It  will  never  be  known,  had  it  been  presented 
soon  enough,  how  much  it  might  have  effected,  impeded, 
and  indicated,  relative  to  a  Prince  whose  understanding 
perhaps  is  not  great,  but  who  possesses  gratitude,  and 
who  will  much  more  certainly  be  an  honest  man  than  a 
great  King ;  so  that  his  heart  rather  than  his  mind  ought 
to  have  been  appealed  to;  and  that  at  a  time  when  he 
was  far  otherwise  accessible  than  at  present, — walled  in, 
as  he  is,  by  system  and  intrigue.  How  does  it  happen 
that  you  are  the  only  person  of  the  country  you  inhabit 
who  conceived  this  plan  ?  How  could  the  Cabinet  of 
Versailles  give  up  the  merit  of  offering  trifling  sums  to 
Serilly  ?  How  could  it  permit  the  Duke  of  Courland  to 
secure  the  claim  of  having  hushed  the  loud  cries  of  cred- 
itors to  silence  ?  How  impolitic  and  disastrous  are  the 
sordid  views,  the  confined  plans,  and  short-sighted  pru- 
dence of  certain  persons !  In  what  a  situation  would  such 
an  act  have  placed  us,  as  it  would  me  personally,  in  his 
opinion!  All  things  then  would  have  been  possible, 
would  have  been  easy  to  me.  But  of  this  we  must  think 
no  more;  we  must  only  remember  this  is  a  new  proof 
that  reason  is  always  on  your  side. 

Since  the  death  of  the   King    I   have   sent  supplies  of 
information  to  your  Cabinet,  respecting  the  Aulic phases  * 

*  Court  changes,  or  appearances. 

(83) 


84  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

and  my  dispatch  of  to-day,  a  great  part  of  which  no 
doubt  our  common  friend  will  read  to  you,  is  a  state- 
ment, according  to  the  best  of  my  abilities,  of  present 
and  future  contingencies.  You  will  there  perceive  that 
Prince  Henry  has  accomplished  his  own  destiny;  that  his 
trifling  character  has,  on  this  occasion,  weighty  as  it 
was,  been  stranded  on  the  rock  of  his  excessive  vanity, 
as  it  has  before  so  often  been ;  that  he  has  at  once  dis- 
played an  excessive  desire  of  power,  disgusting  haughti- 
ness, insupportable  pedantry,  and  a  disdain  of  intrigue, 
at  the  same  time  that  his  conduct  was  one  continuation 
of  petty,  low,  dirty  cabal ;  that  he  has  despised  the  peo- 
ple in  power,  while  he  himself  is  surrounded  only  by 
those  who  are  evidently  either  foolish,  knavish,  or  con- 
temptible,—  one  sole  man,  Baron  Knyphausen,  excepted, 
and  he  is  in  daily  danger  of  being  carried  off  by  apo- 
plexy; that,  in  fine,  no  man  can  be  more  out  of  favor, 
and  particularly  out  of  confidence,  or  can  have  put  him- 
self into  a  situation  in  which  confidence  and  favor  will 
be  more  difficult  to  regain. 

I  therefore  persist  in  my  opinion  that  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  who  is  master  of  himself,  by  no  means 
ostentatious,  and  who  is  possessed  of  profound  talents, 
will  be  the  man,  —  not  of  the  present  moment,  but  of 
the  moment  of  necessity.  My  reasons  are  numerous,  and 
so  deduced  as,  in  my  opinion,  not  to  admit  of  contra- 
diction, the  order  of  events  and  circumstances  which  I 
see  and  foresee  considered.  All  this  does  but  render  the 
execution  of  your  project  the  more  necessary,  and  which 
I  regard  as  very  practicable,  with  some  small  exceptions, 
if  executed  by  the  persons  in  whom  you  ought  to  confide, 
—  should  you,  with  your  natural  dexterity,  and  irresisti- 
ble seduction,  pursue  the  plan  of  interesting  the  vanity 
of  the  MASTER,  so  as  to  make  it  his  own  act,  and,  as  you 
have  so  well  expressed  it,  that  it  shall  be  he  himself 
who  shall  inform  his  Ministers  of  his  intentions. 

I  repeat,  your  project  is  the  more  immediately  neces- 
sary because  that  England  cabals,  with  great  industry, 
in  her  own  behalf,  under  the  pretense  of  the  interests  of 
Holland,  which  are  very  much  at  heart,  in  the  Cabinet 
of  Berlin.  I  own  that  what  I  have  often  insinuated  here, 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  85 

namely,  that  the  Prussian  power  is  not  sufficiently  con- 
solidated, and  that,  if  opposed  to  stand  the  shock  of 
France  and  Austria  combined,  it  must  be  reduced  to 
powder,  is  a  proposition  not  so  unanswerable  but  that, 
thanks  to  Russia,  there  are  many  objections  to  be  made; 
and  so  there  always  will  be,  even  in  suppositions  the 
most  unfavorable  to  Prussia. 

1.  Because   this   would  but  be  commencing  a  deplora- 
ble career  of  sanguinary  contentions,  under  the  direction 
of   the    Emperor,  who  is   so   little  able  to  direct  that  he 
may  be  affirmed  to  be  the  least  military  of  men. 

2.  That  the  utmost  success  would  leave  a  Prince  with- 
out counterpoise   in  Europe,  who  has  claims  and  preten- 
tions  of  every  kind. 

Lastly,  and  more  especially,  this  would  be  painfully  to 
seek  that  which  the  nature  of  events  spontaneously  offers ; 
like  as  spring  makes  the  apparently  dry  and  sapless  tree 
bud  and  bloom. 

There  are  some  errors  in  ciphering,  which  are  the  cause 
that  I  do  not  perfectly  understand  the  grounds  of  your 
dissension  with  me,  concerning  the  maritime  system;  but 
I  too  well  know  the  extreme  justness  of  your  mind,  which 
does  not  remain  satisfied  with  phantoms,  to  imagine  our 
opinions  are  very  opposite.  And,  for  my  own  part,  I  have 
never  pretended  to  say  that  we  ought  not  to  maintain  a 
navy  which  should  make  our  commerce  respected.  The 
question  to  determine  is,  What  ought  the  extent  of  this 
commerce  to  be,  which  is  to  be  effectually  protected  ? 
You,  like  me,  perceive  that  no  alliance  with  England  can 
be  solidly  established  but  by  a  commercial  treaty,  which 
should  have  exact,  clear,  and  distinct  lines  of  demarca- 
tion ;  for,  were  unlimited  freedom  of  trade  permitted,  they 
would  be  the  sufferers.  How  might  they  support  the  rival- 
ship  ?  And,  if  we  do  not  cut  away  the  voracious  suckers 
from  the  root  of  the  tree,  how  shall  we  prevent  the  Indies 
and  Antilles  from  eternally  continuing  the  apple  of  dis- 
cord ? 

Be  this  as  it  may,  monseigneur,  do  not  suffer  your- 
self to  be  discouraged  or  disgusted  by  difficulties.  Ascend 
the  height  with  a  firm  though  measured  step,  and  with 
inflexible  constancy.  You  have  found  the  only  unbeaten 


86  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

track  which,  in  these  times,  can  lead  to  political  fame, 
and  which  best  may  tend  to  the  pacification  of  the  earth. 
How  admirable  is  it  to  unite  the  talents  of  the  hero, 
the  principles  of  the  sage,  and  the  projects  of  the 
philosopher!  By  a  single  diplomatic  act  to  reverse  all 
the  obsolete  forms,  all  pitiable  rubrics,  all  the  destruc- 
tive arts  of  modern  politics,  would  be  to  gain  no  vulgar 
crown;  and  a  prospect  so  magnificent  must  be  a  most 
powerful  support  to  your  fortitude. 

I  need  not  repeat  how  much  I  am  devoted  to    you,  or 
how  entirely  you  may  dispose  of  me. 


LETTER  XXI. 

September  5th,   1786. 

IT  is  impossible  that  I  should  send  you  intelligence 
more  exact,  concerning  the  situation  of  Prince  Henry 
with  the  King,  than  that  which  my  preceding  letters 
contain.  The  Prince  himself  no  longer  conceals  the 
truth,  and,  like  all  weak  men,  passing  from  one  extreme 
to  the  other,  he  clamorously  affirms  the  country  is 
undone,  that  priests,  blockheads,  prostitutes,  and  Eng- 
lishmen are  hastening  its  destruction;  and,  by  the  intem- 
perance of  his  language,  confirms  what  the  indiscretion 
of  Chevalier  d'Oraison,  and  the  personal  confidence  of 
the  uncle  to  the  nephew,  when  he  was  only  Prince  of 
Prussia,  probably  before  but  too  certainly  told  Frederick 
William  II.  I  repeat,  he  has  completed  his  disgrace,  in 
the  private  estimation  of  the  King.  It  is  my  opinion 
that,  if  he  may  be  permitted,  he  will  either  quit  this 
country,  in  which  he  has  not  one  friend,  one  parasite, 
except  in  the  most  subaltern  and  abject  class,  or  will 
become  insane,  or  will  die;  such  is  my  augury. 

Not  that  I  am  convinced  that  the  administration  must 
always  be  committed  to  subalterns.  The  King  has  too 
much  dread  of  seeming  to  be  governed  not  to  have  the 
necessity  of  being  governed.  Why  should  he  be  the  first 
man  who  should  pretend  to  be  what  he  is  not  ?  Fred- 
erick II.,  who  by  nature  was  so  perfectly  designed  to 
govern,  never  testified  a  fear  of  being  governed;  he  was 
certain  of  the  contrary.  The  present  King  fears  he  shall, 
and  therefore  shall  be.  While  public  affairs  are  trans- 
acted separately,  he  will  not  seem  to  be;  for  nothing  is 
more  easy  in  this  country  than  to  receive  and  to  pay. 
The  machinery  is  so  wound  up  that  the  surplus  of  reve- 
nue is  great  indeed.  It  is  easy  to  pay  some  atten- 
tion to  detail,  to  keep  watch  over  the  police,  to  make 
some  subordinate  changes,  and  to  coquette  with  the 
nation.  And  here  be  it  said,  by  the  way,  there  seems  a 

(87) 


88  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

determination  of  humbling  the  vanity  of  foreigners;  so 
that,  as  I  have  always  affirmed,  the  gallomania*  of 
Prince  Henry  has  been  very  prejudicial  to  us.  Some 
good  will  be  done;  for  it  is  not  here  as  in  other  king- 
doms, where  the  passing  from  evil  to  good  is  sometimes 
worse  than  evil  itself,  and  where  there  is  terror  in  re- 
sistance. All  is  here  done  ad  nutum.  Besides,  the  cords 
are  so  stretched  they  cannot  but  relax;  the  people  have 
been  so  oppressed,  have  suffered  such  vexation,  such  ex- 
tortion, that  they  must  find  ease.  All  will  proceed, 
therefore,  and  almost  without  aid,  while  foreign  politics 
shall  continue  calm  and  uniform;  but,  whenever  a  gun 
is  fired,  or  even  at  the  first  lowering  storm,  with  what 
a  petty  crash  will  this  scaffolding  of  mediocrity  come  to 
the  ground!  How  will  these  subaltern  Ministers  shrink, 
from  the  slave  at  the  oar  to  the  terrified  steersman  ? 
How  will  they  call  for  a  pilot's  aid  ? 

Who  must  be  this  pilot  ?  The  Duke  of  Brunswick. 
Of  this  I  have  no  doubt.  Every  little  accident,  in  the 
day  of  trouble,  is  only  an  additional  aptitude  to  fear. 
Besides  that,  the  Prince  is,  of  all  men,  he  who  best  can 
conduct  little  vanity;  he  will  satisfy  himself  with  appear- 
ing the  servant  of  servants;  the  most  polite,  the  most 
humble,  and  indubitably  the  most  adroit  of  courtiers; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  his  iron  hand  will  fetter  all 
paltry  views,  all  trifling  intrigues,  all  inferior  factions. 
Such  is  the  horoscope  I  draw ;  nor  do  I  think,  at  present, 
one  more  rational  can  be  erected. 

Hertzberg  is  the  man  who  must  be  managed  in  the 
State;  and  for  this  Comte  d'Esterno  is  not  qualified,  be- 
cause he  formerly  deserted  him  too  much;  and  he  well 
perceived  it  would  have  been  indelicate  and  stupid  to  have 
veered  too  suddenly.  Hertzberg,  however,  may  ruin  him- 
self by  his  boasting,  and  even  by  his  ostentation.  This 
is  a  mode  of  effecting  the  fall  of  Ministers  which  the 
courtiers  will  not  fail  to  employ  because  of  the  character 
of  the  King,  and  which  may  succeed. 

But  Holland  and  her  convulsions  are  the  subject  of 
present  consideration.  There  is  a  conviction  that  we  can 
do  what  we  please;  and,  though  I  am  far  from  thinking 

*  Enthusiasm  in  favor  of  France. 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  89 

this  to  be  incontrovertible,  I  still  think  that,  were  we  to 
say  to  the  party  that  has  gained  so  much  ground,  prob- 
ably from  a  conviction  that  we  were  ready  to  march  up 
to  their  support  ( for  how  would  they  have  dared  to  make 
themselves  responsible  if  they  had  possessed  no  securities 
for  such  future  contingencies  as  may  be  expected  ?).  I 
repeat,  were  we  to  say,  YOU  MUST  GO  NO  FURTHER,  we 
should  be  obeyed.  It  will  be  supposed,  I  neither  pretend 
nor  wish  to  give  advice.  I  am  too  far  removed  from 
truth,  which  I  can  only  inspect  through  the  magnifying 
glass  of  passion;  and  the  Comte  d'Esterno  informs  me 
of  nothing;  but  I  can  distinctly  perceive  that  that  hurri- 
cane, which  is  forming  in  those  marshes,  may  extend  to 
other  countries.  The  French  Embassy  of  Berlin  will  not 
say  thus  much  to  you,  because  they  do  not  see  things 
in  the  same  light,  but  are  persuaded  that  the  interest 
of  the  brother  will  have  no  influence  on  the  connections  of 
the  King.  Of  this  I  doubt,  and  have  good  reason  so  to 
doubt.  Hertzberg  is  wholly  Dutch,  for  it  is  the  only 
decent  manner  in  which  he  can  be  English ;  and  he  may 
greatly  influence  foreign  politics,  although  he  does  not 
understand  them.  As,  the  other  day,  he  was  rehearsing 
his  eternal  repetition  of  —  THE  KING  WILL  BE  THE  PLEDGE 
OF  THE  STADTHOLDER — I  said  to  him,  *I  respect  the 
King  too  much  to  ask  who  shall  be  the  pledge  of  the 
pledge;  but  I  dare  venture  to  ask  —  How  WILL  THE  KING 
MAKE  HIS  PLEDGE  RESPECTED?  What  shall  happen  when 
France  shall  demonstrate  that  the  Stadtholder  has  broken 
engagements  entered  into  under  her  sanction?  The  King 
is  not  the  brother-in-law  of  Holland ;  and  the  affair  of 
Naples  is  sufficient  proof  that  family  interventions  may 
be  eluded  ?  What  can  the  King  accomplish  against  Hol- 
land ?  And  is  he  not  too  equitable  to  require  us,  who 
cannot  wish  that  the  Dutch  should  become  English,  to 
risk  our  alliance  for  the  knight-errant  of  the  English  ?  * 
To  all  this  Hertzberg,  who  beholds  nothing  on  this  sub- 
lunary earth  but  HERTZBERG  and  PRUSSIA,  made  vague 
replies ;  but,  at  the  words,  <(  What  can  the  King  accom- 
plish against  Holland  ? w  he  muttered,  with  a  gloomy  air, 
"HOLLAND  WILL  NOT  DEFY  HIM,  I  BELIEVE.*  Once  again, 
beware  of  Holland;  where,  by  way  of  parenthesis  the 


90  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

English  legation  affirms  that  we  have  bought  the  town 
of  Schiedam ;  that  M.  de  Calonne,  in  particular,  inundates 
the  country  with  gold;  and,  in  a  word,  that  he  is  per- 
sonally the  brand  of  discord. 

I  have  reserved  the  questions  with  which  your  letter 
begins,  to  conclude  with;  first,  because  they  relate  to 
affairs  the  least  pressing,  since  it  appears  impossible  that 
the  Emperor  should  make  any  attempts  on  Turkey  in 
Europe  before  the  coming  spring;  and  next,  it  was  neces- 
sary I  should  previously  recollect  myself;  the  concurring 
circumstances  of  the  death  of  the  King,  and  the  accession 
of  Frederick  William,  being  the  subjects  which  have  almost 
exclusively  demanded  my  attention,  and  induced  me  to  defer 
more  distant  objects  to  future  consideration.  Still,  I  fear 
mine  is  a  barren  harvest,  Prussia  not  having  any  continued 
intercourse  with  these  wide  lying  countries,  which  are 
more  than  four  hundred  leagues  distant;  for  she  has 
neither  any  great  merchant,  nor  any  system  of  politics, 
because  the  corps  diplomatique  of  Prussia  is  extremely 
deficient. 

As  to  those  individuals  that  are  met  with  in  society, 
they  are  ignorant,  and  can  afford  no  information.  Buck- 
holz,  the  Prussian  envoy  to  Warsaw,  a  man  of  ordinary 
capacity,  but  active,  and  Huttel,  who  is  in  the  same 
capacity  at  Petersburg,  an  intelligent  person,  write  word 
that  Russia  is  more  pacific  than  Turkey,  and  that  the  in- 
ternal Ottoman  provinces  call  for  war.  The  frontier 
provinces,  appertaining  to  the  Tartars,  certainly  are  not 
friendly  to  Russia.  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  are  governed 
by  Hospodars,  who,  being  Greeks,  most  certainly  are  sold  to 
whoever  will  purchase  them,  consequently  to  Russia.  The 
Emperor  deceives  them,  and  is  hated  there,  as  elsewhere. 
I  shall  speak  further  of  this,  and  shall  endeavor  to  give  a 
sketch  of  a  journey  along  the  frontiers  of  these  countries, 
which  should  be  undertaken  in  the  disguise  of  a  trader, 
and  kept  rigidly  secret,  by  which  the  state  of  the  fron- 
tiers, the  magazines,  the  propensities  of  the  people,  etc., 
etc. ,  might  be  known,  and  what  is  to  be  hoped  or  feared, 
if  it  be  found  necessary  to  arm  (in  which  case  it  is  very 
probable  Prussia  would  voluntarily  aid  us  with  all  her 
powers), —  that  is  to  say  if  the  Emperor  should  determine 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  91 

to  pay  no  respect  to  our  remonstrances,  as  he  has  twice 
done  before. 

Perhaps  I  might  be  more  useful  employed  in  such  a 
journey  than  at  Berlin,  where  at  every  step  I  tread  on 
danger,  and  shall  so  continue  to  do,  unless  I  have  cre- 
dentials, at  least  as  an  assistant;  which  perhaps  would 
be  the  more  proper,  because  it  sometimes  happens  that 
such  an  interlocutor  is  spoken  to  with  greater  freedom 
than  an  Ambassador;  for  the  refusals  he  meets,  or  the 
proposals  he  makes,  have  no  ministerial  consequences; 
and  thus  each  party  gains  information,  without  either 
being  offended. 

Pay  serious  attention  to  this,  I  request.  In  vain  you 
recommend  me  to  act  privately;  permit  me  to  inform 
you  that,  in  despite  of  all  my  efforts,  this  is  impractica- 
ble. I  have  too  much  celebrity,  too  much  intercourse 
with  Prince  Henry,  who  is  a  true  Joan  of  Arc,  and  who 
has  no  secrets  of  any  kind.  I  am  made  to  speak  when 
I  am  silent;  and  when  I  say  anything  it  is  unfaithfully 
repeated.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  all  that  has  been 
attributed  to  me  since  the  King's  death;  that  is  to  say, 
since  an  epoch  when  I  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
interruption  of  social  meetings  to  keep  myself  recluse, 
and  to  labor  only  by  mining.  Comte  d'Esterno  dis- 
credits me  all  in  his  power.  The  English  Embassy 
exclaims:  * Fcenum  habet  in  cornu,  longt  fuge*  The  favor- 
ites keep  me  at  a  distance ;  the  wits,  the  priests,  and  the 
mystics  have  formed  a  league,  etc.,  etc.  Each  fears  an 
invasion  of  his  domains,  because  my  real  business  is  not 
known.  I  cannot  remain  and  be  of  any  utility,  unless 
you  shall  find  means  to  inform  Count  Finckenstein  that 
I  am  only  a  good  citizen  and  a  good  observer;  but  that 
these  I  am,  and  that  I  am  authorized  to  give  my  opinion. 
I  cannot  doubt  but  that  this  Minister  is  very  desirous 
these  few  words  should  be  said.  I  am,  however,  in  con- 
science obliged  to  repeat,  the  part  I  have  to  play  daily 
becomes  more  difficult  and  more  invidious;  and  that,  in 
order  to  be  truly  useful,  I  must  have  some  character 
given  me,  or  be  employed  elsewhere. 

Prince  Henry  at  present  reads  his  recantation ;  he  again 
pretends  Hertzberg  has  received  his  deathblow,  and  that 


92  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

his  downfall  will  be  instantaneous.  He  relates  miracles  of 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  and  flatters  himself  that  he  shall, 
soon  or  late,  have  great  influence  — (<  He  will  be  in  no 
haste.  He  will  ply  to  windward  six  months. w  He  affirms 
the  English  projects  are  absolutely  abortive.  Hertzberg, 
he  is  confident,  acts  as  if  he  had  lost  all  understanding, 
and  precisely  as  if  he,  Prince  Henry,  had  counseled 
him,  in  order  to  render  his  fall  more  headlong,  etc.,  etc., 
etc.  In  fine,  his  discourse  is  a  mixture  of  enthusiasm 
and  rodomontade,  of  presumption  and  anxiety;  a  flux  of 
words  that  confirm  nothing;  or  of  half  phrases  without 
any  determinate  meaning,  except  of  exaggeration  and 
tumor.  Hence,  it  is  difficult  to  conjecture  whether  he 
deceives  himself  or  wishes  to  deceive;  whether  he  main- 
tains the  cause  of  vanity,  feasts  on  illusion,  or  if  he  has 
recently  any  ray  of  hope;  for,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  not 
impossible  but  that  Hertzberg,  by  his  boasting,  should 
effect  his  own  ruin.  Prince  Henry  presses  me  to  request 
the  Court  to  send  me  some  credentials,  while  the  King 
shall  be  in  Prussia  and  Silesia;  or,  at  least,  to  write  con- 
cerning me  to  Count  Finckenstein,  by  whom  the  intelli- 
gence may  be  communicated  to  the  King. 

No  change  in  the  new  habits  of  the  Monarch.  Ma- 
dame Rietz  has  been  but  once  to  see  him;  but,  on  Sat- 
urday last,  he  wrote  to  his  natural  son  by  that  woman, 
and  directed  his  letter:  <(To  my  son  Alexander,  Count 
de  la  Marche.w*  He  has  ennobled,  and  even  made  a 
Baroness  of  the  mistress  of  the  Margrave  of  Schwedt 
(Baroness  of  Stoltzenberg,  which  is  the  title  of  a  Barony, 
worth  about  eight  thousand  crowns  a  year,  given  her  by 
the  Margrave),  who  is  nothing  more  than  a  tolerably 
pretty  German  girl,  formerly  an  actress,  by  whom  the 
Margrave  has  a  son.  It  was  not  thought  proper  to  refuse 
the  only  thing  this  old  Prince  of  seventy- seven  wished 
or  could  request.  Perhaps,  too,  it  was  a  pretext  to  do  as 
much  for  Madame  Rietz.  The  husband  of  this  lady  is 
erzkaemmerer,  \  a  place  nearly  corresponding  to  that  of 
first  valet  de  chambre,  and  treasurer  of  the  privy  purse; 
but  it  is  supposed  he  will  do  nothing  more  than  get 

*  Meaning  one  of  the  Marches  of  Brandenburg, 
f  Archchamberlain. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  93 

rich;  his    wife  hitherto  has   never  had  any  serious  influ- 
ence. 

The  Court  Marshal,  Ritwitz,  having  suddenly  become 
raving  mad,  after  a  quarrel  with  one  of  the  provision 
officers,  Marwitz,  who  is  a  totally  insignificant  person, 
has  been  proposed  to  the  King.  (<  He  will  do  as  well  as 
another,"  replied  the  Monarch.  Is  this  thoughtlessness, 
or  is  it  fear  of  importance  being  annexed  to  a  place 
which  in  reality  but  little  merits  importance  ?  This  ques- 
tion it  is  impossible  to  answer. 

Lucchesini  increases  in  his  pretensions;  he  demands  a 
place  in  the  finance  or  commercial  department;  perhaps 
the  direction  of  the  maritime  company,  but  this  would 
be  a  very  lofty  stride.  Annexed  to  wit  and  information, 
he  has  some  qualities  to  which  ambition  is  seldom  allied; 
at  most  they  will  entitle  him  to  become  a  member  of  the 
corps  diplomatique,  of  which  he  is  capable.  I  believe  this 
Italian  to  be  one  of  the  most  ardent  in  keeping  me  at  a 
distance  from  the  King,  who  will  not  indeed  be  easy  of 
access  before  the  winter. 

The  commission  of  regulations  has  hitherto  rather  ap- 
peared a  caustic  than  a  healing  and  paternal  remedy. 
There  is  much  more  talk  of  the  sums  the  employment 
of  which  cannot  be  justified  than  of  easing  the  excise. 
Verder,  the  president,  is  besides  known  to  be  the  per- 
sonal enemy  of  some  of  the  members  of  the  tax  admin- 
istration. This,  perhaps,  has  occasioned  suspicions. 
Verder,  however,  was  proposed  by  the  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick, who,  in  fact,  had  need  of  his  aid  in  some  affairs 
that  relate  to  his  country. 

Hertzberg  has  certainly  been  in  a  storm,  and  the 
credit  of  Count  Finckenstein  appears  to  be  augmented, 
though  I  confess  the  shade  of  increasing  favor  is  scarcely 
perceptible.  I  persist  in  believing  that  Hertzberg  is 
immovable,  unless  by  his  want  of  address. 


LETTER   XXII. 

September  8th,   1786. 

THE  sixth,  at  a  review  of  the  artillery,  I  dismounted  my 
horse  to  attend  the  King,  in  the  front  of  the  ranks. 
The  Duke  of  Brunswick  joined  me;  and,  as  we 
talked  of  mortars,  bombs,  and  batteries,  we  gradually  re- 
moved to  a  distance.  As  soon  as  we  were  alone,  he  began 
to  speak  to  me  of  the  prodigious  knowledge  I  had  of  the 
country;  giving  me  to  understand  he  had  read  my  me- 
morial to  the  King.  He  then  reverted  to  the  new  reign, 
and  suddenly  afterward  to  foreign  politics.  Having  en- 
tered at  length  into  the  subject,  and  spoken  more  than 
is  necessary  here  to  repeat,  he  added,  (<  In  God's  name, 
arrange  affairs  in  Holland;  free  the  King  of  his  fears. 
Must  the  Stadtholder  never  be  other  than  ad  honores? 
You  are  in  full  credit  there,  and  this  credit  you  cannot 
lose ;  if  you  did,  the  party  by  which  you  obtained  it  would 
be  too  much  exposed  to  danger.  I  repeat,  put  us  at  our 
ease,  and  I  will  answer  on  my  head  for  everything  else; 
but  use  dispatch,  I  conjure  you.  On  Sunday  I  shall  de- 
part for  Brunswick;  come  and  visit  me,  while  the  King 
is  gone  into  Silesia;  we  can  converse  freely  there,  and 
nowhere  else.  But  write  to  your  friends  that  they  ought 
to  exert  all  their  influence  to  engage  the  French  Ministry 
to  use  moderation  with  the  Prince  of  Orange,  who  can- 
not be  proscribed  without  State  convulsions.  Things  are 
not  ripe  for  his  abolishment ;  give  him  protection.  France 
cannot  render  a  greater  service  to  Europe.  What,  is  your 
Court  yet  to  learn  those  forms  which  effect  no  change, 
but  which  give  every  support  ? }>  Here  we  separated,  be- 
cause the  subject  began  to  be  too  interesting.  But  tell 
me  —  ought  I  not  to  go  to  Brunswick  ? 

To  this  I  should  add  that  Count  Goertz  has  taken  eight 
chasseurs  with  him,  who  are  to  convey  letters  to  the 
frontiers  of  the  Prussian  States,  in  order  that  no  dis- 
patches may  be  sent  by  land,  nor  pass  through  foreign 

(94) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  95 

hands.  The  Duke  of  Brunswick  has  repeated  what  Prince 
Henry  had  told  me,  and  which  I  forgot  to  inform  you 
of,  that  one  of  the  principal  motives  for  selecting  Count 
Goertz  was  his  former  friendship  with  M.  de  Veyrac. 

From  my  conversation  with  the  Duke,  I  conclude  that 
he  is  or  soon  will  be  master  of  affairs ;  and  this  explains 
the  new  fit  of  joy,  hope,  and  presumption  which  has 
seized  on  Prince  Henry,  who  has  been  persuaded  by  the 
cunning  Duke  that,  if  he  will  but  have  patience,  the 
scepter  will  devolve  on  him ;  and  that  he,  the  Duke,  will 
be  no  more  than  high  constable.  It  is  said  Koenigsberg 
will  be  appointed  Field  Marshal.  This,  added  to  the 
smooth  turn  which  the  Duke  has  given  discussions  and 
pecuniary  matters,  has  turned  the  Prince's  brain,  who 
told  me  the  other  day  that  w  the  Duke  was  the  most  loyal 
of  men,  and  his  best  friend;  that  he  owned  a  fortnight 
ago  he  was  of  a  different  opinion;  but  that,*  etc.  So 
that  the  metamorphosis  has  been  produced  within  this 
fortnight.  In  truth,  there  is  no  real  difference  between 
a  fool  and  a  man  of  understanding  who  thus  can  suffer 
himself  to  be  deceived;  as  little  is  there  between  a  fool 
and  a  man  of  understanding  who  can  be  persuaded  that 
a  fool  is  a  man  of  understanding.  Both  these  things 
daily  happen  to  Prince  Henry.  On  the  thirteenth  he 
departs  for  Rheinsberg  and  is  to  return  the  day  before 
the  King. 

The  fervor  of  the  novice  appears  somewhat  to  abate. 
I  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  Mademoiselle  Voss 
is  ready  to  capitulate, —  ogling,  frequent  conversations 
(for  the  present  assiduity  at  Schoenhausen  is  not  paid  to 
the  Queen  Dowager),  presents  accepted  (a  canonicate  for 
her  brother),  and  an  attempt  at  influence.  (It  is  she  who 
placed  Mademoiselle  Vierey  in  the  service  of  the  Princess 
Frederica  of  Prussia.)  To  ask  is  to  grant.  Since  the 
accession  all  circumstances  denote  how  dazzling  is  the 
luster  of  a  diadem;  but  so  much  the  better,  for  her  fall 
only  can  render  her  but  little  dangerous.  She  is  wholly 
English,  and  is  not  incapable  of  intrigue.  When  we  re- 
flect that  the  credit  of  a  Madame  du  Troussel  had  the 
power,  under  a  Frederick  II.,  to  bestow  places  of  impor- 
tance, we  may  imagine  what  may  happen  under  another 


96  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

King,  as  soon  as  it  shall  be  discovered  that  intrigue  may 
be  employed  at  the  Court  of  Berlin,  as  well  as  at  other 
Courts. 

Madame  Rietz  yesterday  received  a  diamond  worth 
four  thousand  crowns;  she  will  probably  be  put  on  the 
invalid  list,  with  some  money,  and  perhaps  a  title. 

Her  son,  at  present,  has  publicly  the  title  of  Count 
de  la  Marche  (or  Count  Brandenburg),  and  has  a  sepa- 
rate establishment. 

General  Kalckstein,  disgraced  by  the  late  King,  and 
regretted  by  everybody,  has  received  a  regiment. 

At  present,  and  till  I  hear  other  news  relative  to  Ber- 
lin, accept  the  following  important  anecdote,  which  I 
think  it  necessary  to  send  in  the  now  doubtful  state  of 
the  health  of  the  Empress  of  Russia:  About  six  years 
ag°>  a  young  foreigner,  and  a  gentleman,  in  the  service 
of  France,  was  presented  to  the  Grand  Duchess,  by  a 
lady  who  had  been  educated  with  her,  and  who  has  re- 
mained her  intimate  friend.  It  was  the  intention  of  this 
young  gentleman  to  enter  into  the  Russian  service.  He 
was  presented  to  the  Grand  Duke  by  the  Grand  Duch- 
ess, who  warmly  solicited,  and  while  he  was  present,  a 
place  for  the  youth  in  the  service  of  her  husband. 

The  young  favorite,  well-formed  and  handsome,  often 
visited  the  Grand  Duchess.  Invited  to  her  palace,  feasted, 
distinguished,  and  continually  receiving  new  favors,  he 
fell  in  love;  of  which  the  Grand  Duchess  was  informed 
by  his  extreme  confusion.  One  grand  Court  day,  at  a 
masked  ball,  in  the  evening,  she  had  him  conducted  by 
one  of  her  women  into  an  obscure  apartment,  and  suffi- 
ciently distant  from  those  where  the  Court  was  held.  In 
a  little  time  the  conductress  quitted  him,  and  advised 
him  to  wait,  and  the  Grand  Duchess  arrived  in  a  black 
domino.  She  removed  her  mask,  took  the  youth  by  the 
hand,  led  him  to  a  sofa,  and  made  him  sit  down  by  her 
side.  The  Grand  Duchess  then  told  him  this  was  the  mo- 
ment for  him  to  choose  between  the  service  of  France 
and  the  service  of  Russia.  A  certain  time,  however, 
was  allowed  him  to  come  to  a  decision.  Coquetry  and 
even  caresses  succeeded.  Wavering,  taken  by  surprise, 
distracted  between  love  and  fear,  the  youth  behaved 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  97 

with  excessive  awkwardness  at  the  beginning  of  the 
interview.  The  Grand  Duchess,  however,  encouraged 
him,  inspired  him  with  audacity,  and  made  him  every 
advance,  till  at  length  he  vanquished  his  timidity  and 
indeed  became  very  daring. 

To  this  scene  of  transports,  adieus  suddenly  succeeded, 
which  partook  as  much  of  terror,  and  of  despotism,  as 
of  love.  The  Grand  Duchess  commanded  the  youth,  in 
the  most  tender  but  the  most  absolute  tone,  to  inform 
the  Grand  Duke  that  he  could  not  accept  the  rank  of 
captain,  which  was  intended  to  be  given  him.  She  added 
that  he  must  depart,  instantly  depart;  and  that  his 
head  must  answer  should  the  least  circumstance  tran- 
spire. She,  at  the  same  time,  pressed  him  to  demand 
some  mark  of  remembrance.  The  terrified  youth,  con- 
fused and  trembling,  requested  a  black  ribbon,  which 
she  took  from  her  domino.  He  received  the  pledge,  and 
so  totally  lost  all  recollection  that  he  left  the  ball,  and 
quitted  Petersburg,  without  contriving  any  means  of  cor- 
respondence, arrangements  for  the  future,  or  precautions 
of  any  kind,  in  favor  of  his  fortune.  In  a  few  days  he 
left  Russia,  traveling  day  and  night,  and  did  not  write 
to  the  Grand  Duke  till  he  had  passed  the  frontiers.  He 
received  a  very  gracious  answer ;  and  here  the  affair  ended. 

This  person  is  returned  to,  and  is  now  in,  the  service 
of  France.  He  has  little  firmness,  but  does  not  want 
understanding.  Were  he  guided  he  might  certainly  be 
useful ;  at  least,  attempts  might  be  made  after  so  extraor- 
dinary an  incident.  But  for  this  it  would  be  necessary 
he  should  go  to  Russia  before  there  is  any  change  of 
monarch,  and  should  tempt  his  fortune,  now  that  the 
Grand  Duchess  has  not  so  much  fear.  I  am  not  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  him,  but  I  can  dispose  of  his 
most  intimate  friend,  in  whom  every  dependence  may  be 
placed.  I  have  not  thought  proper  to  name  the  hero  of 
the  romance,  whom  it  is  not  necessary  to  know,  unless  it 
should  be  intended  to  afford  him  employment.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  it  should  be  thought  proper  for  him  to  pursue 
any  such  plan,  I  will  name  him  instantly. 

The  Elector  of  Bavaria  is  certainly  not  in  good  health ; 
he  may  not  live  to  see  winter;  and  it  is  scarcely  proba- 
7 


98  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

ble  he  will  reach  the  spring.  I  shall  go  from  hence  to 
Dresden,  that  I  may  not  appear  to  absent  myself  pur- 
posely for  the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  I  shall  remain  there 
seven  or  eight  days,  as  long  at  Brunswick,  and  three  or 
four  weeks  in  the  whole.  My  journey  will  be  exactly  of 
the  same  duration  as  that  of  the  King,  in  whose  absence 
there  is  nothing  to  be  learned,  and  I  shall  certainly  profit 
by  my  peregrinations,  and  learn  more  at  Brunswick  in 
a  week  than  I  should  here  divine  in  three  months. 

My  letter  is  too  long  to  speak  of  Turkey  in  Europe.  I 
doubt  the  Emperor  cannot  be  prevented,  if  he  is  not 
destitute  of  all  capacity,  from  marching  any  day  he  shall 
please  to  the  mouth  of  the  Danube ;  but  on  the  same  day 
he  must  become  the  natural  enemy  of  Russia,  who  will 
find  in  his  presence  one  too  many  on  the  Black  Sea,  and 
this  may  render  the  combined  projects  abortive.  I  am 
assured  that  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  desire  to  be  under 
the  Emperor's  Government.  This  I  cannot  believe,  since 
his  own  peasants  fly  their  country,  and  even  go  to  Poland, 
rather  than  remain  in  his  power.  But  the  before-mentioned 
provinces  are  absolutely  unprotected,  and  I  think  no  op- 
position can  be  made,  except  in  Roumelia  and  Bulgaria. 
In  fine,  I  believe  we  only,  by  promises  or  threats,  are 
able  to  prevent  the  Emperor  from  laboring  at  this  grand 
demolition.  If  we  believe  the  rodomontadoes  of  Peters- 
burg, Russia  is  singly  capable  of  the  work.  But,  were 
she  to  attempt  it,  what  would  she  be  on  the  succeeding 
day  ?  You  are  not  ignorant  she  has  received  some  check ; 
that  Prince  Heraclius  has  been  obliged  to  desert  her 
cause;  that  she  is  once  again  reduced  to  defend  Mount 
Caucasus  as  a  frontier ;  that  she  cannot  at  present  march 
into  the  heart  of  the  Ottoman  territories;  and  that  per- 
haps this  would  be  the  best  moment  for  recovering  the 
Crimea.  Should  all  these  particulars  be  true,  and  these 
conjectures  well  founded,  it  is  impossible  that  I  should 
know  any  one  of  them  so  perfectly  as  you  do  yourself. 

The  dispute,  relative  to  the  bailliage  of  Wusterhausen, 
has  been  very  nobly  ended  by  the  King.  He  has  retaken 
it,  but  has  made  an  annual  grant  of  fifty  thousand 
crowns  to  Prince  Henry,  seventeen  thousand  of  which 
the  latter  is  obliged  to  pay  Prince  Ferdinand.  The  bail- 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  99 

liage  does  not  produce  more  than  about  forty-three 
thousand. 

Prince  Ferdinand  at  present  recants  the  renunciation 
to  the  Margraviate  of  Anspach.  As  it  is  known  that 
Prince  Ferdinand  has  no  will  of  his  own,  it  is  evident 
he  receives  his  impulse  from  Prince  Henry,  and  the 
more  so,  because  this  is  the  manet  altd  mente  repostum 
against  Count  Hertzberg.  It  would  be  difficult  to  im- 
agine anything  more  silly,  or  better  calculated  eternally 
to  embroil  him  with  the  King. 

I  have  always  regarded  the  singularity  of  Romanzow, 
of  not  going  into  mourning,  and  his  violence  with  Count 
Finckenstein  concerning  not  sending  a  complimentary 
envoy  to  Petersburg,  which  occasioned  the  Count  to  de- 
mand whether  he  had  orders  from  his  Court  to  speak  in 
such  a  style,  as  the  effervescence  of  a  young  man;  es- 
pecially since  Baron  Reeden,  the  Dutch  envoy,  did  not 
likewise  go  into  mourning  from  economy,  which  shows 
it  was  not  considered  as  a  matter  of  any  great  impor- 
tance. As  these  debates  very  ridiculously  occupied  the 
corps  diplomatique  for  a  week;  and  as  the  Comte  d'Es- 
terno,  who  has  conducted  himself  well  on  the  occasion, 
must  have  mentioned  it,  I  thought  it  to  no  purpose  to 
write  on  the  subject.  But  as  Romanzow,  of  all  the 
foreign  Ambassadors,  did  not  attend  the  funeral  at  Pots- 
dam, this  mark,  either  of  thoughtlessness  or  dissatis- 
faction, was  felt;  and,  the  time  necessary  to  receive 
orders  being  past,  I  send  information  of  the  fact,  to 
which  I  do  not,  however,  pay  so  much  attention  as  the 
good  people  in  the  pit,  though  it  has  greatly  displeased 
the  boxes.  The  Cabinet  of  Berlin  must  long  have  known 
that  friendship,  on  the  part  of  Russia,  is  hopeless  till 
the  accession  of  the  Grand  Duke ;  but  it  is  impossible  to 
butt  with  more  force,  or  greater  disrespect,  than  Roman- 
zow has  done. 


LETTER     XXIII. 

September  loth,  1786. 

THE   following   are    some   particulars  concerning  what 
happened,  on  the  day  of  interment,  at  Potsdam. 

The  King  arrived  at  seven  o'clock.  At  half-past 
seven  he  went  with  the  Princesses  Frederica  and  Louisa  of 
Brunswick,  the  young  ladies  Knisbec,  Voss,  etc.,  to  see 
the  chamber  of  Frederick.  It  was  small,  hung  with  vio- 
let-colored cloth,  and  loaded  with  ornaments  of  black  and 
silver.  At  the  far  end  was  an  alcove,  in  which  the  coffin 
was  placed,  under  the  portrait  of  the  hero.  This  coffin 
was  richly  ornamented  with  cloth  of  silver,  laced  with 
gold.  Toward  the  head  was  a  casque  of  gold,  the  sword 
that  Frederick  wore,  his  military  staff,  the  ribbon  of  the 
Black  Eagle,  and  gold  spurs.  Round  the  coffin  were 
eight  stools,  on  which  were  placed  eight  golden  cushions, 
meant  to  sustain: 

1.  The  crown. 

2.  The  golden  globe  and  cross. 

3.  The  gold  box  containing  the  seal. 

4.  The  electoral  cap. 

5.  The  scepter. 

6.  The  Order  of  the  Golden  Eagle,  of  diamonds  and 
other  precious  stones. 

7.  The  royal  sword. 

8.  The  royal  hand. 

The  balustrade  was  hung  with  violet-colored  velvet.  A 
splendid  glass  chandelier  was  in  the  center,  and  on  each 
side  was  a  mutilated  pyramid  of  white  marble  veined 
with  black ;  that  is  to  say,  of  white  cloth,  marbled  with 
great  art.  The  chamber  appeared  to  me  to  want  light. 

His  Majesty  afterward  passed  into  the  canopy  salon, 
hung  with  black,  and  adorned  with  plates  of  silver  from 
the  Berlin  palace;  and  next  into  the  grand  hall,  hung 
with  black.  Eight  artificial  black  columns  had  been 
added  to  this  immense  hall.  Its  only  embellishments 

(100) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  101 

were  garlands  of  cypress,  and  here  again  there  was  too 
little  light. 

In  about  half  an  hour  the  King  returned  to  his  apart- 
ments; and,  at  half  past  eight,  Prince  Henry,  Prince 
Ferdinand,  and  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  came  to  see  the 
same  apartments,  where  they  only  remained  five  min- 
utes. 

At  a  quarter  past  nine  the  King  went  to  Prince  Henry. 
The  regiments  of  guards  formed  under  their  windows. 
The  canopy  was  brought;  it  was  of  black  velvet,  sur- 
rounded by  cloth  of  gold,  and  laced  with  a  crape  fringe, 
On  the  cloth  of  gold  were  black  eagles.  Twelve  posts, 
covered  with  velvet,  supported  the  canopy;  and  over 
them  were  twelve  silver  eagles,  each  a  foot  high,  which 
produced  a  good  effect. 

After  the  canopy  came  the  state  coach;*  very  large, 
very  low,  hung  with  white  satin  edged  with  gold  fringe, 
and  drawn  by  eight  horses  covered  with  black  velvet. 

To  the  state  coach  succeeded  a  chariot,  in  black  vel- 
vet, on  which  was  a  black  crown,  drawn  by  eight  cream- 
colored  horses,  in  black  velvet  harness,  on  which  were 
fixed  black  eagles,  embroidered  in  gold.  The  livery 
servants,  chamber  lackeys,  heydukes,  running  footmen, 
huntsmen,  and  pages  followed. 

The  Princesses,  ushered  by  Messieurs  Goertz  and 
Bishopswerder,  were  at  church. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  procession  began.  The  place  of 
assembly  was  the  grand  hall  with  the  eight  columns.  A 
gentle  descent  had  been  made  from  the  grand  canopy  to 
the  door,  to  which  the  state  coach  was  drawn  up  to 
receive  the  coffin.  The  road  from  the  palace  to  the 
church  was  planked,  and  covered  with  black  cloth.  The 
procession  was  truly  superb,  and  conducted  with  great 
order.  The  troops  formed  two  lines. 

The  church  was  illuminated  with  wax  candles  and 
small  lamps;  and  the  coffin  was  deposited  under  a  cu- 
pola, supported  by  six  pillars  of  white  marble.  The 
organ  began  to  play  and  the  funeral  service  was  per- 
formed, which  continued  half  an  hour.  The  return  was 
not  disorderly,  but  it  was  not  made  in  procession. 

*  Corbillard.     Perhaps  the  word  is  here  used  to  signify  a  hearse. 


loz  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

When  the  guests  came  back  to  the  palace,  the  tables 
were  ready  spread,  and  the  courses  were  served  up  at 
noon.  The  guests  rose  from  table  at  half  past  one.  The 
King,  Prince  Henry,  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  and  the 
Princesses,  went  to  Sans  Souci.  Such  was  the  manner  in 
which  the  morning  was  spent. 

There  was  no  comparison  to  be  drawn  between  this 
and  the  funerals  of  the  Church  of  Notre  Dame  with  re- 
spect to  magnificence,  taste,  or  splendor;  but  they  did 
everything  that  could  be  done,  the  country  and  the  time 
considered. 

There  was  much  order  from  the  commencement  to  the 
close.  The  music  was  indifferent,  had  no  effect,  no  en- 
ergy, no  charm,  and  was  ill  executed, —  not  one  good 
voice,  Concialini  excepted,  who  did  not  sing  well. 

The  tables  were  well  supplied,  the  viands  abundant  and 
select,  the  servants  numerous  and  orderly.  Each  of  the 
aides-de-camp  general  did  the  honors  of  a  table.  French, 
Rhenish,  and  Hungarian  wines  were  served  in  profu- 
sion. 

The  King,  going  to  table,  led  Prince  Henry.  On 
every  occasion  his  Majesty  saluted  with  dignity.  His 
countenance  was  neither  serious  nor  too  cheerful. 

He  testified  his  satisfaction  to  Reck,  who  replied  that 
Captain  Gonthard  had  regulated  the  whole;  and  that  he 
had  no  other  merit  except  that  of  having  procured  him 
everything  of  which  he  stood  in  need. 

The  King  wore  the  grand  uniform  of  the  guards.  The 
Princes  were  booted.  Prince  Goethen  had  mourning 
spurs,  which  was  remarked. 

The  King  went  and  returned  in  company  only  with 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick. 


LETTER  XXIV. 

September  i2th,   1786. 

King  departs  to-morrow.     The  order  of  his  journey 
has  undergone  no  change.     He  will  be  back  on  the 
28th,  and  again  set  out  on   the    26.  for    Silesia.      I 
shall  probably  have  a  good  opportunity,  on  his  return,  to 
speak  of   finance  and  of   substitutes.      Previous  to  this 
Panchaud  must  absolutely  unite  with  me  to  form  a  good 
plan  of  speculating  in  our  funds, —  good  for  the  finances, 
and  in  particular  good  for  the  King  who  is  to  be  allured. 
Remember  the  importance  of  this  Monarch. 

Bishopswerder  increases  in  credit,  which  he  carefully 
conceals.  Welner,  a  subaltern  creature,  endowed  with 
understanding,  management,  and  knowledge  of  interior 
affairs, — a  mystic  when  mysticism  was  necessary  to  please, 
and  cured  of  his  visions  since  the  King  has  required  these 
should  be  kept  secret, —  active,  industrious,  and,  what  is 
more,  sufficiently  obscure  to  be  employed  without  creat- 
ing jealousy, —  Welner,  I  say,  appears  to  gain  prodigious 
influence.  He  has  the  qualities  necessary  to  succeed,  and 
even  to  outwit  all  his  competitors.* 

I  again  repeat,  Boden  ought  not  to  be  neglected,  by 
the  way  of  insinuation.  He  is  vain,  and  should  be  capable 
of  corruption ;  for,  always  suspected  of  the  most  insatiable 
avarice  and  the  basest  means,  he  has  lost  a  place  of  eight 
thousand  German  crowns  by  the  death  of  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse  Cassel,  and,  it  is  said,  is  driven  to  expedients. 
He  corresponds  with  the  King,  and  rather  intimately; 
that  which  he  should  often  repeat  must  produce  an  effect. 
He  is  the  hero  to  slay  Hertzberg,  who,  I  may  add,  has 
not  been  successful  concerning  Holland,  and,  in  despite  of 
whom,  Thulemer  may  still  be  recalled. 

Prince  Henry  still  feeds  on  hopes.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  he  is  cajoled  by  the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  But  he  is 
exactly  at  the  same  point,  except  that  Hertzberg  is  not 

*  He  is  at  present  absolutely  the  principal  Minister. 


104  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

so  powerful.  The  King  intends  Alvensleben  for  the 
French  Embassy;  a  man  of  high  birth,  sense,  and  wis- 
dom, as  it  is  affirmed.  He  is  at  Dresden.  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  study  him  and  shall  take  him  letters. 

No  person  is  satisfied;  civil  and  military,  courtiers  and 
Ministers,  all  pout.  I  imagine  they  expected  it  would 
rain  gold.  I  have  nothing  to  add  to  my  prognos- 
tics, which  may  be  reduced  to  this  alternative :  the  nation 
sacrificed,  while  affairs  continue  tranquil,  that  we  may 
persuade  ourselves  we  govern;  the  Duke  of  Brunswick, 
should  perils  intervene,  and  the  storm  begin  to  blow. 

In  the  name  of  business  and  of  friendship,  do  not  for- 
get a  plan  of  operations  for  finance.  Schulemburg  is  sup- 
ported, and  I  have  reasons  to  believe  he  will  not  be 
dismissed.  Should  I  acquire  influence  in  finance  I  would 
not  be  his  enemy.  He  will  be  more  serviceable  than  any 
other,  Baron  Knyphausen  only  excepted,  who  will  never 
be  anything  while  Hertzberg  is  in  power. 

Remember  that  you  have  an  incapable  envoy  in  Ba- 
varia, and  that  this  will  become  an  embassy  of  importance 
at  the  death  of  the  Elector.  If  it  be  meant  to  place  me, 
which  must  be  meant  if  I  am  to  serve,  had  not  I  best 
make  my  first  appearance  here  ? 


LETTER     XXV. 

DRESDEN,  September  i6th,   1786. 

I  SHALL  say  nothing  particular  to  you  yet  of  this  coun- 
try, as  you  may  suppose,  for  who  can  run  and  read? 
Besides,  I  find  the  inconvenience  of  having  no  cre- 
dentials, and,  consequently,  have  not  been  able  to  speak 
with  propriety  on  affairs,  except  in  very  general  and 
metaphorical  terms. 

Stuterheim,  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  with  whom 
I  have  dined,  is  said  to  be  a  very  well,  a  labyrinth  of 
secrecy,  and  it  follows  that  his  subalterns  are  exceedingly 
reserved.  The  Ministers  here  rather  give  in  their  RE- 
PORTS than  act.  a  Give  in  their  reports >J  is  the  conse- 
crated phrase.  But  I  have  been  so  well  convinced  by 
what  I  have  seen  under  Frederick  II.,  that  the  King,  who 
governs  most  himself,  is  so  little  the  master,  and  is  so 
infinitely  deceived,  that  I  am  perfectly  aware  of  the  de- 
gree of  credit  which  these  Court  dicta  deserve. 

I  have  seen  Alvensleben.  Should  he  go  to  France,  I 
do  not  think  he  will  live  long.  He  is  worn  out,  and 
only  keeps  himself  alive  by  extreme  abstinence,  and  an 
almost  total  sequestration  from  society.  He  is  well  ac- 
quainted with  Germany,  is  said  to  act  with  prudence  and 
propriety,  is  successful  in  what  he  undertakes,  and  has  a 
good  moral  character.  He  is  not,  however,  without  art, 
and,  perhaps,  he  wishes  to  be  cunning.  He  is  not  pre- 
cisely the  man  for  France,  but  he  is  a  specimen  of  the 
fruit  of  the  country,  and,  for  any  other  use,  is  some  of 
the  best  it  produces.  I  imagine  you  will  find  him  agree- 
able. 

I  shall  endeavor  to  get  into  the  currency  of  the  coun- 
try, but,  I  repeat,  while  I  shall  have  no  credentials,  and 
am  left  so  much  in  ignorance  concerning  home  affairs,  I 
shall  be  much  more  proper  to  collect  literary  and  written 
opinions  than  for  any  other  business;  and  the  thoughts 
of  men  are  not  written  in  their  faces.  Nor  do  you,  for 

(105) 


io6  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

example,  find  in  any  book  that  a  Prime  Minister  has  con- 
fided his  eldest  son,  on  his  travels,  to  such  a  blockhead 

as  G ,  or  to  a  Chevalier  du  Vivier,  who  never  utters 

a  word  that  he  does  not  utter  an  absurdity,  and,  perhaps, 
some  that  are  dangerous.  But  why  has  he  related  that 
he  waited  at  Hamburg  five  weeks  for  permission  to  take 
the  Vicomte  de  Vergennes  to  Berlin,  on  occasion  of  the 
accession  of  the  King,  and  that  this  was  refused  ?  Is  he 
afraid  that  they  should  be  insensible  at  Berlin  of  the 
affectation  of  having  avoided  that  Court  ?  I  should  never 
finish  were  I  to  cite  all  the  incoherencies  he  utters,  the 
least  of  which  is  ridiculous  in  the  extreme. 

In  reality,  if  I  am  to  commence  as  a  subaltern  in  the 
diplomatic  corps,  I  have  no  objection  to  Hamburg,  where, 
exclusive  of  the  great  intercourse  of  the  commerce  of  the 
North,  with  which  we  are  unacquainted,  and  in  which 
we  do  not  sufficiently  participate,  since  we  wish  to  have 
an  envoy  there,  we  ought  to  have  an  active  person,  in- 
stead of  one  from  whom  nothing  is  so  desirable  as  that 
he  should  be  deaf  and  dumb. 

The  vast  connections  that  are  between  the  grand  em- 
poriums of  trade  are  such  that  these  posts  are  never 
things  of  indifference.  Why  do  not  they  bestow  a  sine- 
cure on  M.  du  Vivier? 


LETTER    XXVI. 

DRESDEN,  September  igth,  1786. 

THERE  are  few  MEN  here,  yet  is  the  machine  tolerably 
well  regulated ;  nothing  can  better  prove  that  order 
and  constancy  are  more  necessary  for  good  govern- 
ment than  great  talents. 

The  extreme  credit  of  Marcolini  is  to  be  regarded  as 
a  popular  rumor.  He  is  a  favorite  without  ascendency 
(as  without  merit)  at  least  in  the  Cabinet;  his  influence 
does  not  extend  beyond  the  Court.  At  present  he  is  in 
Italy,  and  the  routine  of  affairs  is  the  same.  Probably 
some  favors  which  pass  through  his  hands,  and  which 
the  excessive  devotion  of  the  Elector  rather  bestows  on 
Catholics  than  on  Lutherans,  are  the  real  cause  of  these 
murmurs;  which,  however,  are  sufficiently  believed  to 
occasion  the  Emperor  to  make  a  stupid  blunder.  He  has 
sent  here  one  of  the  silliest  of  Ambassadors  —  one 
O'Kelly,  an  Irishman  —  because  Marcolini  had  married 
his  niece.  He  thought  by  this  means  to  have  governed 
everything;  but  the  trap  was  so  palpably  gross  that  no 
one  has  taken  the  trouble  to  remove  the  bait. 

The  Ministers  who  have  real  influence  are  Stuter- 
heim  and  Gudschmidt.  The  first  is  very  infirm,  but  pru- 
dent, sage,  and  with  understanding  enough  to  know  on 
what  subjects  he  is  ignorant,  to  ask  information,  and  to 
consult  others.  He,  however,  draws  near  his  end.  The 
second  does  not  show  himself  to  the  world.  It  is  affirmed 
that  he  is  a  man  of  the  greatest  merit;  that  he  has  infi- 
nite knowledge;  that  not  a  single  pamphlet  in  any 
language  throughout  Europe  escapes  him;  that  his 
judgment  is  sound,  his  understanding  perspicuous  and 
penetrating,  and  his  temper  communicative;  which  last 
quality  is  in  him  the  more  compatible  with  discretion 
because  he  possesses  its  piety  without  its  superstitions. 
He  ranks  first  in  the  confidence  of  the  Elector;  but  it 

(107) 


io8  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

must  be  added  he  is  sixty  years  of  age.  and  has  ill 
health. 

Among  the  Ministers  we  must  also  enumerate  M. 
Worm,  a  well-informed  man,  who  possesses  some  princi- 
ples of  political  economy,  with  information  not  very 
common  on  the  general  relations  of  commerce,  together 
with  industry,  activity,  and  great  quickness  of  apprehen- 
sion; but,  as  it  is  said,  rarely  with  much  justness  of 
understanding.  His  moral  character  is  suspected.  He  is 
accused  of  not  keeping  his  hands  pure  from  bribery ;  but 
it  is  not  the  less  true  that  he  is  of  great  service  to  in- 
ternal government.  He  appeared  to  me  to  be  artful, 
communicative,  ironical,  subtle,  satirical,  and  crafty,  but 
very  proper  for  business  in  all  countries.* 

Of  all  the  foreign  Ambassadors,  I  believe  M.  Saftzing, 
from  Sweden,  to  be  the  only  one  above,  or  rather  not 
below,  mediocrity.  I  except  the  English  envoy,  who  has 
the  character  of  being  an  able  man,  but  whom  I  have 
not  yet  any  proper  opportunity  for  examining.  He  is 
open  and  complaisant,  even  to  affectation,  considering 
that  his  character  is  English.  If  we  except  Alvensleben, 
not  one  of  the  remainder  deserves  the  honor  of  being 
mentioned. 

The  Elector  is  a  man  distinct  from  Princes  in  general, 
yet  he  appears  to  partake  of  the  character  of  the  King 
of  England.  The  consistency  of  his  mind,  which  is  en- 
tire, has  a  small  alloy  of  obstinacy.  I  spoke  but  little  to 
him,  because  of  the  confusion  of  the  dinner.  Etiquette 
is  observed  at  the  table  of  the  Elector;  consequently  I 
paid  every  care  and  attention  to  seat  M.  de  Vergennes 
near  the  Prince.  He  speaks  with  intelligence  and  pre- 
cision, but  his  voice  is  harsh,  sharp,  and  shrill.  His 
dress  and  countenance  seemed  to  indicate  devout  and 
wheedling,  but  acute  and  implacable,  jealousy.  The  very 
ill  education  of  the  Electress,  her  noisy  mode  of  speech, 
and  her  unreserved  freedom ,  greatly  occupy  this  Prince 
to  his  disadvantage;  for,  besides  that  such  kind  of  vigi- 
lance ever  bears  somewhat  of  the  stamp  of  ridicule,  his 

*No  wonder  governments,  and  consequently  nations,  are  vicious, 
when  such  are  supposed,  even  by  men  of  considerable  abilities,  to  be  the 
proper  qualities  for  governors. 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  109 

crabbed  figure,  rendered  more  disagreeable  by  a  paralytic 
affection  of  the  eyes,  becomes  at  such  moments  restless, 
disturbed,  and  hideous. 

Such,  and  so  ungracious,  as  he  is  here  depicted,  he 
is  a  Prince  who,  from  many  considerations,  is  worthy 
esteem  and  respect.  Since  the  year  1763,  his  desire  to 
do  good,  his  economy,  his  indefatigable  labors,  his  in- 
numerable privations,  his  perseverance,  and  his  industry, 
have  not  for  a  moment  relaxed.  He  has  paid  all  the 
personal  debts  of  the  Electors;  and  is  advanced  in  the 
liquidation  of  the  debts  of  the  State.  He  pursues  his 
plans  with  inflexible  punctuality.  Slow,  but  not  irreso- 
lute, difficult  in  accomplishing,  but  intelligent,  with  few 
resources  at  a  first  view,  but  possessed  of  aptitude  and 
the  gift  of  meditation,  his  only  weakness  arises  from  his 
religion,  which  yet  does  not  occasion  him  to  exaggerate 
his  rights,  or  to  neglect  his  duties.  One  step  further 
and  he  would  have  been  a  bigot,  and  one  step  backward 
and  he  would  no  longer  be  a  devotee.  It  is  much  to 
be  doubted  whether  his  confessor,  Hertz,  has  the  least 
influence  except  in  the  distribution  of  some  footmen's 
places.  The  Elector  supports  his  Ministers  with  uncom- 
mon firmness,  against  all,  and  to  all.  In  a  word,  but 
for  him  the  country  had  been  undone;  and,  should  he 
have  the  good  fortune  to  see  a  duration  of  peace,  he 
will  render  it  very  flourishing.  Population  visibly  in- 
creases ;  the  annual  surplus  of  births  over  deaths  amounts 
to  twenty  thousand;  and  the  number  of  the  people  is 
less  than  two  millions.  Trade,  which  might  be  better, 
is  not  bad.  The  army  imitates  that  of  Prussia,  over 
which  it  has  the  advantage  of  being  purely  national ;  but, 
to  say  the  truth,  Saxony  is  the  least  military  of  all  the 
provinces  of  Germany.  Credit  is  good,  and  even  great. 
The  paper  currency  is  at  par,  or  nearly ;  and  the  inter- 
est of  money  at  four  per  cent.  The  Cabinet  of  Dresden 
is  the  only  one  in  Europe  which  has  adopted  the  true 
principles  of  coinage.  Agriculture  is  in  a  state  of  pass- 
able respectability.  Manufactures  are  free;  the  rights 
of  the  people  are  uninfringed;  justice  is  impartially  ad- 
ministered; in  a  word,  all  things  considered,  it  is  the 
most  happy  country  in  Germany.  Yet  this  is  a  remark- 


no  SECRET     COURT   MEMOIRS 

able  circumstance,  and  excites  admiration  when  we  recol- 
lect the  terrible  scourges*  which  have  successively,  and 
sometimes  collectively,  laid  this  fine,  but  ill-situated  coun- 
try, desolate. 

They  are  persuaded  here  that  we  instigate  the  Turk; 
that  there  is  a  coolness  between  the  two  imperial  Courts; 
and  that  Russia  is  in  want  of  men,  money,  and  horses. 
It  must  be  frankly  owned  that  her  bank  operations  have 
a  gloomy  appearance.  It  is  supposed  we  shall  endeavor, 
should  it  be  absolutely  necessary,  to  effect  a  diversion  in 
Germany,  without  interfering,  except  by  coming  to  the 
aid  of  those  who  should  be  too  much  exposed  to  danger. 
For  no  one  imagines  we  shall  suffer  Germany  to  de- 
volve on  one  single  head,  nor  even  to  be  divided  be- 
tween two.  And,  with  respect  to  Turkey  in  Europe,  it 
is  thought  that  our  interest,  conjointly  with  that  of  Eng- 
land, will,  by  one  means  or  other,  avert  the  destruction 
with  which  it  is  menaced. 

On  inquiry,  I  find  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  has  not 
properly  had  an  attack.  He  has  only  changed  his  mis- 
tress; and  when  he  does  so,  he  alters  his  regimen  to 
excite  venery.  It  happens  on  these  occasions  that  he 
has  nervous  affections,  which  resemble  false  attacks,  and 
which  will  some  day  bring  on  a  paralytic  stroke.  His 
life  is  not  depended  upon. 

The  hostilities  of  the  Stadtholder  have  produced  an 
effect  here  greatly  to  his  disadvantage.  For  my  part,  I 
do  not  think  his  affairs  in  so  disastrous  a  state  as  they 
seem  to  be  believed.  Should  we  embroil  province  with 
province,  we  shall  lose  our  advantages ;  it  will  in  vain  be 
urged  that  the  Stadtholder  is  master  of  Guelderland ;  the 
nobility  is  numerous  in  that  province,  and  they  form  A 
PUBLIC  opinion. 

I  send  you  the  state  of  the  military  in  the  Electorate 
of  Saxony,  which  is  no  secret;  but  I  shall  also  add,  by 

*  The  principal  scourges  to  which  the  author  alludes,  by  the  epithet 
of  *  ill-situated, »  are  wars;  by  which  its  sufferings  have  indeed  been 
dreadful.  Charles  V.,  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  Charles  XII.,  and  still 
more  flagrantly  the  late  Frederick,  have  been  its  tormentors.  That  it 
should  recover,  as  it  continually  has  recovered,  from  such  periodical, 
such  renovating  destruction,  is  a  fact  remarkable  in  history,  worthy  the 
attention  of  the  philosophers  and  the  highest  eulogium  on  the  country. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  in 

the  next  courier,  that  of  the  public  stores,  which  I  pro 
cured  by  a  singular  accident,  the  particulars  of  which  it 
would  be  useless  here  to  relate.  I  shall  only  remark 
that  the  custom  which  the  Elector  has  for  several  years 
adopted  in  his  offices,  of  employing  supernumeraries 
without  salaries,  might  give  place  to  discovery,  however 
well  secrets  may  here  be  kept. 

I  shall  commit  to  M.  de  Vibraye,  who  is  returning  to 
Paris,  all  the  minutes  of  my  ciphers,  well  and  duly  sealed, 
and  addressed  to  you. 

He  does  not  expect  to  return  hither,  and  has  hopes  of 
the  Swedish  Embassy. 

May  not  the  changes  which  will  take  place  in  the 
corps  diplomatique,  by  the  vacancy  of  M.  d'Adhe'mard, 
afford  an  opportunity  of  giving  me  something  more 
agreeable  and  less  precarious  than  a  secret  commission, 
which  must  end  of  course,  with  the  life  of  a  Minister 
who  is  hastening  toward  the  grave?  I  hope  your  friend- 
ship will  not  slumber.  You  must  own  others  might  act 
with  less  diligence.  If  you  will  take  the  trouble  again 
to  read  my  dispatches  as  they  are  here  sent,  not  in 
ciphers  but  correct,  and  will  at  the  same  time  consider 
all  the  difficulties  of  various  kinds  that  I  have  had  to 
surmount,  and  the  few  means  which  my  cloudy  situation 
can  afford,  you  will  not  be  dissatisfied  with  my  cor- 
respondence. Since,  for  example,  Zelle  has  published 
the  history  of  the  King's  disease,  I  have  the  satisfaction 
to  perceive  the  information  I  sent  you  was  exact.  True 
it  is  that,  under  the  late  King,  at  the  conclusion  of  so 
long  a  reign,  a  man  knew  to  whom  to  address  himself; 
whereas  at  present  it  is  necessary  to  discover  which  are 
the  doors  at  which  you  must  knock.  Yet  I  think  I  have 
given  a  passable  picture  of  men  and  things.  And  what 
could  I  not  effect  of  this  kind,  what  could  I  not  dis- 
cover, had  I  credentials? 


LETTER  XXVII. 

DRESDEN,  September  zist,  1786. 

I     HAVE    several    times    mentioned,   and    particularly   in 
Numbers  XI.  and  XIX. ,  this  Boden ;  I  can  only  refer 
you  to  the  circumstances  you  will  there  find. 
As  to  the  person  named    Dufour,   whose   real   name  is 
Chauvier,  and  who  was  a  journeyman   barber  in  France, 
had  I  thought  it  of  any  importance  I  should  have  spoken 
before  and  given  his  character   at   full;    for  he  is  one  of 
the  circuitous  paths  pointed  out  to  me  by  Prince  Henry. 
He  certainly  had  influence  over  the  Heir  Apparent,  which 
he  obtained: 

1.  Because    he   was    persecuted   by   the    late    King,  by 
whom  he  had  been  expelled ;  *  so  that,  in  order  to  return, 
he  was  obliged  to  take  the  name  of  Dufour,  which  is  that 
of  a  family  of  the  French  colonists.     And  — 

2.  That  he  might  aid  to  banish  the  spleen.      He  often 
dined  in  private  with    the    Prince,  who   was    so    familiar 
with    him,   some    time    before    his    accession,  that  when 
wearied  with  his  discourse  he  would  dryly  bid   him  hold 
his   tongue,  f      Dufour   was   one    of   those   with    whom    I 
should  have    made    myself   intimate,   had   the    King  con- 
tinued to  live  some  time  longer;  and  he  was   among  the 
persons  and  things  that  occasioned  me  to  project  a  journey 
to  Potsdam.     But  death  suddenly  interposed,  and  I  should 
have   sought   his   intimacy   too   abruptly;  not  to  mention 
that   subaltern    influence    has,   on    the    King's    accession, 
totally  disappeared. 

The  person  named  Chapuis  is  a  man  who  is  not  defi- 
cient in  understanding  and  address.  He  was  born  in  French 
Switzerland.  He  is  the  governor  of  the  natural  son  of 

*  The  author  does  not  say  whether  from  the  the  Court  or  from  the 
country. 

f  It  is  not  very  clear,  from  the  original,  whether  it  was  the  Prince 
who  bade  Dufour,  or    Dufour  who  bade  the   Prince,  hold  his  tongue. 
The  word  prtsomtif,  we  believe,  can  only  be  applied  to  an  Heir  Ap- 
parent, or  we  should  have  reversed  the  reading. 
(112) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  113 

the  King,  and  the  well-beloved  of  Madame  Rietz.  Think- 
ing his  acquaintance  might  be  valuable  in  many  respects, 
I  consequently  sought  it,  under  the  pretense  of  litera- 
ture only;  but  at  present  Chapuis  has  not  in  himself  any 
one  point  of  contact.  To  run  after  such  people,  so  cir- 
cumstanced, would  but  be  to  render  myself  suspicious  to 
no  purpose.  I  mentioned  to  you,  on  my  return  from 
Rheinsberg  (Number  XI),  <(  I  have  numerous  modes  of 
communication,  which  will  develop  themselves  as  time 
and  opportunity  shall  serve."  But  these  have  been  re- 
tarded by  the  accession.  Applications  of  this  secret  kind 
can  only  be  made  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and  during  the 
Carnival,  with  utility  and  safety. 

These,  generally,  are  rather  TOOLS  proper  for  a  spy  to 
work  with  than  the  engines  of  influence.  Should  such 
people  ever  have  power  over  foreign  politics,  the  puis- 
sance of  Prussia  must  draw  to  a  conclusion.  This  coun- 
try must  not  be  estimated  by  France;  there  is  not  here 
the  same  margin  in  which  to  insert  follies,  or  to  correct. 
And  as  in  general  man  remains  at  that  point  where  it  is 
necessary  he  should  be  fixed,  the  King  of  Prussia  will 
act  with  circumspection  in  what  relates  to  foreign  affairs. 

Not  that  this  should  prevent  us  from  recollecting  that 
we  ought  to  guard,  with  extreme  caution,  against  a  coali- 
tion between  Prussia  and  Austria,  for  this  system  also  is 
capable  of  defense.  It  is  even  the  easiest  of  execution, 
and  the  most  splendid;  nor  would  Prince  Henry  be  so 
averse  to  it  as  he  himself  supposes,  should  he  perceive 
the  least  glimmering  of  hope.  Hitherto,  indeed,  I  have 
not  noticed  anything  that  could  give  suspicion,  but  I 
shall  more  carefully  examine  whatever  might  occasion 
such  an  event,  on  my  return  to  Berlin.  There  can  be 
little  danger  that  I  should  become  languid  in  the  pursuit 
of  this  object,  having  four  years  ago  published  my  fears 
of  such  an  event,  and  having  begun  to  send  my  static 
tables  of  Austria,  only  that  you  might  attentively  consider 
the  immense  basis  of  power  which  the  Emperor  possesses, 
and  whose  alliance  with  France  I  cannot  but  consider  as 
the  masterpiece  of  Prince  Kaunitz,  and  the  type  of  our 
indelible  levity. 

It  may  be  that  this  power  of  the  Emperor  is  as  much 
8 


ii4  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

overrated  elsewhere  as  it  is  the  reverse  in  France;  but 
even  this  is  a  reason  which  may  lead  to  prefer,  instead 
of  the  perilous  honor  of  being  the  champion  of  the  Ger- 
manic liberties,  the  easy  and  deceptive  advantage  of  di- 
viding the  spoils.  Therefore,  delay  appears  to  me  more 
unseasonable  than  it  has  been,  for  it  is  probable  that  the 
King  of  Prussia,  having  once  pledged  himself,  will  not  re- 
cede, which  seems  to  be  warranted  by  his  personal 
probity,  his  hatred  of  the  Emperor,  the  antipathy  that 
exists  between  the  two  nations,  and  the  universal  opin- 
ion which  prevails  that  the  chief  of  the  empire  is  a  per- 
fidious Prince. 

Your  project  concerning  Brunswick  is  certainly  excel- 
lent, and  I  shall  spare  no  labor  that  may  tend  to  give  it 
success.  But  the  man  is  very  circumspect,  Hertzberg 
very  vehement,  and  the  crisis  equally  urgent. 

I  have  conversed  with  several  of  the  English  who  are 
returned  from  the  Emperor's  reviews;  he  behaved  there 
with  great  affability,  and  was  very  talkative.  He  par- 
ticularly distinguished  a  French  officer,  who  had  traveled 
on  horseback,  that  not  a  single  military  position  might 
escape  him  on  his  route.  The  Austrian  troops,  in  gen- 
eral, manceuver  well  by  companies,  and  even  tolerably 
by  regiments,  but,  collectively,  their  inferiority  to  the  Prus- 
sian army  is  prodigious.  Opinions  on  this  point  are  unani- 
mous. They  were  not  capable  of  keeping  their  distances, 
even  when  filing  off  in  the  presence  of  the  Emperor. 
This  grand  pivot,  on  which  tactics  turn,  is  unknown  to 
the  Austrians,  whereas  the  Prussians  so  habitually,  so 
religiously,  observe  their  distances,  that  any  failure  of 
this  kind  is  an  error  unheard  of. 

The  inferiority  of  the  Austrian  army,  compared  to  the 
Prussian,  is  attributed: 

1.  To  the  want  of   a   sufficient  number  of   officers  and 
subalterns,  compared  to  the  number  of  soldiers. 

2.  To   the   economy,  totally    anti-military,  of  the   Em- 
peror, who,  while  the  companies  nominally  consist  of  two 
hundred  men,  does  not  maintain  more  than  fifty  or  sixty 
under  arms,    and   sends   the   others    home,    even    against 
their  will,  so  that  three-fourths  of  the  soldiers  are  never 
disciplined. 


THE  COURT  OF  BERLIN  115 

3.  To    the    troops   being  dispersed,  kept   in  petty   de- 
tachments, and  never  exercised  as  a  whole,  except  when 
they  are  encamped,  where,  even  then,  they  are  disciplined 
by  detail. 

4.  To  the   very  great   inferiority  of  the  officers.     The 
corps  of  captains  forms  the    soul  of  the    Prussian    army, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  is  the    disgrace  of  the    Austrian, 
etc. 

It  is  generally  affirmed  that,  should  the  two  nations  go 
to  war,  there  is  little  doubt  concerning  which  would  have 
the  advantage;  that  there  is  no  equality  between  them, 
even  supposing  their  generals  to  be  equal;  and  that  the 
contest  most  certainly  would  be  favorable  to  the  Prussians, 
during  the  first  campaign.  But  this  equality  of  generals 
is  not  true.  Laudon,  though  still  vigorous,  cannot  wear 
much  longer.  Besides  that,  he  has  often  said  he  never 
would  command  an  army,  unless  at  the  distance  of  four 
hundred  miles  from  the  Emperor.  The  abilities  of  Lacy 
are  suspected,  though  he  enjoys  the  entire  confidence  of 
Joseph  II.,  and,  as  it  is  rumored,  has  rendered  himself 
singularly  necessary,  by  the  complication  of  the  military 
machine.  No  commander  in  the  Austrian  army  can  con- 
tend against  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  nor  even  against 
Kalcreuth,  or  Moellendorf. 

Persons  who  have  come  very  lately  from  Russia  affirm 
that  the  Empress  is  in  good  health  and  that  ERMENOW 
has  obliterated  her  long  sorrows  for  the  death  of  LANSKOI. 
It  is  also  said  that  Belsborotko  gains  ground  upon  Potem- 
kin,  but  of  this  I  more  than  doubt. 

I  have  no  belief  in  the  facility  with  which  the  fifth 
dispatch  may  be  deciphered.  I  think  that,  in  general, 
the  ciphers  have  rather  been  conjectured  than  divined. 
The  way  by  which  they  are  commonly  known  is  the 
official  communication  of  writings,  which  is  made  from 
one  Court  to  another,  and,  which  the  Minister  has  some- 
times the  ill  address  to  send  without  his  accustomed 
cipher,  on  a  known  day.  This  is  a  quicksand  of  which 
I  am  not  in  danger.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  have  a 
variety  of  ciphers,  and  I  entreat  you  will  not  neglect  any 
occasion  of  sending  me  some  that  are  new  and  more 
complete. 


LETTER   XXVIII. 

DRESDEN,  September  24th,  1786. 

YOUR  letter  of  the  fourth  of  September,  which,  by  mis- 
take, your  secretaries  have  dated  the  fourth  of 
August,  came  to  hand  very  late,  and  I  shall  reply 
without  written  references  and  solely  from  memory,  in 
the  annexed  sheet,  to  the  principal  points.  I  had,  in- 
deed, previously  answered  them;  nor  do  I  believe  that 
anything  has  escaped  me  which  it  was  in  my  power  to 
learn,  or  that  I  have  any  reason  to  repent  having  sacri- 
ficed too  much  to  respect  and  to  probabilities,  at  the 
time  of  the  death  of  the  King.  Had  I  pursued  my  plan, 
I  should  have  been  four  days  sooner  than  any  of  the 
diplomatic  couriers;  but  I  request  you  will  answer  me 
whether  it  was  possible  to  divine  the  conduct  of  our 
embassy.  I  disregarded  the  minute  circumstances  of 
death,  as  I  had  done  that  of  the  news  itself;  nor  could 
I  divine  that  these,  being  no  longer  secret,  and  having 
become  so  easy  to  examine  and  describe,  should  yet  have 
remained  secrets  to  you.  I  suspected  it  the  less  because 
certain  Ambassadors  (indeed,  most  of  them)  appeared  to 
me  so  embarrassed  by  the  completing  of  their  dispatches 
that  I  should  not  have  imagined  they  would  have  dis- 
dained a  supply  which  was  to  be  obtained  with  so  much 
facility.  Satisfied  also  with  having  informed  you,  thanks 
to  lucky  circumstances,  of  the  progress  of  the  disease, 
in  such  a  manner  as  few  Ministers  were  informed,  I  de- 
spised those  particulars  that  were  become  public.  But 
there  were  some  that  were  sufficiently  interesting,  relative 
to  the  last  two  days  of  the  King,  from  which  a  banquet 
might  be  prepared  at  an  easy  expense;  and  the  poign- 
ancy of  which  not  death  itself  could  destroy, —  relating 
as  they  did  to  a  mortal  so  extraordinary,  both  in  body 
and  mind. 
(116) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  117 

His  disease,  which  would  have  killed  ten  men,  was  of 
eleven  months'  continuance,  without  interruption,  and 
almost  without  relaxation,  after  his  first  fit  of  an  as- 
phyxic  apoplexy,  from  which  he  was  recovered  by  emet- 
ics, and  after  which  the  first  word  he  uttered,  with  an 
imperious  gesture,  was  SILENCE.  Nature  made  four  dif- 
ferent efforts  to  save  this  her  rare  composition, —  twice 
by  diarrhoeas,  and  twice  again  by  cuticular  eruptions. 
Hence  it  might  be  said,  by  the  worshipers  of  a  God,  that 
this  his  image  was  broken  by  the  Creator  himself ;  and  that 
nature  did  not  abandon  one  of  the  most  beauteous  of 
her  works  till  the  total  destruction  of  the  organs,  ex- 
hausted by  age,  had  been  effected;  nor  till  after  a  con- 
tinual warfare  between  body  and  mind  *  during  forty-six 
years;  till  after  fatigues  and  agitations  of  every  kind 
which  signalized  this  fairy  reign,  and  after  the  most 
ruinous  disease. 

This  man  died  on  the  seventeenth  of  August,  at  twenty 
minutes  past  two  in  the  morning;  and  on  the  fifteenth, 
when,  contrary  to  his  constant  custom,  he  slept  till  eleven 
o'clock,  he  transacted  his  Cabinet  business,  though  his 
feebleness  was  excessive,  without  any  want  of  attention; 
and  even  with  a  conciseness  scarcely  perhaps  to  be  found 
in  any  other  Prince  in  good  health.  Thus  when,  on  the 
sixteenth,  the  reigning  Monarch  sent  orders  to  Zelle  to 
repair  instantaneously  to  Potsdam,  because  the  King  had 
remained  insensible  almost  since  the  noon  of  the  day 
before,  and  because  he  was  in  a  lethargic  sleep,  the 
physician,  arriving  at  three  o'clock,  and  finding  Freder- 
ick II.  with  animation  in  his  eyes,  sensibility  in  his  or- 
gans, and  so  much  recollection,  not  being  called,  dared 
not  make  his  appearance.  Zelle  judged  he  was  past  re- 
covery less  from  the  cadaverous  odor  which  exhaled  from 
his  wound  than  because  he,  for  the  first  time  during  the 
whole  course  of  his  reign,  did  not  recollect  that  he  had 
not  expedited  the  affairs  of  the  Cabinet.  The  conclusion 
was  sagely  drawn:  dying  only  could  he  forget  his  duty. 
.  .  .  Two-thirds  of  Berlin  at  present  are  violently 

*The  French  reads:  «  Contention  continuelle  d'dme  et  d'esprit^;  or 
of  SOUL  and  MIND;  the  translator  has  the  misfortune  not  to  understand 
the  distinction. 


ii8  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

declaiming  in  order  to  prove  that  Frederick  II.  was  a  man  of 
common,  and  almost  of  mean  capacity.  Ah!  could  his 
large  eyes,  which  obedient  to  his  wishes  seduced  or  ter- 
rified the  human  heart,  could  they  but  for  a  moment 
open,  where  would  these  idiot  parasites  find  courage  suffi- 
cient to  expire  with  shame? 


LETTER  XXIX. 

DRESDEN,  September  26th,  1786. 

CONVERSING  with  a  well-informed  man  who  is  returned 
from  Russia,  I  learned  a  fact  totally  strange  to  me, 
though  no  doubt  known  to  the  Comte  de  Vergennes  ; 
but,  whether  or  no,  one  which  appeared  to  me  proper  to 
make  you  acquainted  with;  and  more  especially  because 
the  project  is  pursued  with  greater  ardor  than  ever. 

When  Hyder  Ali,  having  advanced  beyond  the  Orixa, 
was  at  the  height  of  his  prosperous  success,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  north  of  Bengal,  interrupted  in  their  cus- 
tomary commerce  by  the  conflict  between  the  English 
and  their  enemies,  brought  their  iron  as  far  as  the  fron- 
tiers of  Siberia,  there  to  find  a  market.  This  extraordi- 
nary fact  was  the  cause  of  a  remarkable  attempt  made 
by  Russia,  in  1783.  She  sent  a  fleet  to  Astracan,  to  seize 
on  Astrabat,  there  to  form  an  establishment,  on  the  north- 
ern coast  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  thence  to  penetrate 
into  the  interior  parts  of  India.  The  enterprise  failed; 
but  is  so  far  from  being  abandoned  that,  at  this  very 
moment,  a  plan  may  be  seen  in  relief  at  Petersburg,  of 
the  works  by  which  it  is  intended  to  fortify  Astrabat. 

Of  all  the  gigantic  projects  of  Russia  this  is,  per- 
haps, the  least  unreasonable;  since  it  is  pointed  out  by 
the  nature  of  things,  and  since  there  is  already  an  in- 
land navigation  completely  carried  on  from  Astracan,  on 
the  Volga,  the  Mita,  the  Lake  Jemen,  the  Wologda,  the 
Canal  of  Ladoga,  and  the  Neva,  to  Petersburg.  Should 
this  plan  ever  be  pursued  with  activity  and  success,  it 
must  either  happen  that  England  will  seriously  think  of 
an  alliance  with  us,  against  the  system  of  the  North,  or 
she  must  suffer  every  sort  of  an  advantage  to  be  obtained 
over  her  at  Petersburg;  for  the  interest  of  the  Russians 
must  then  become  totally  opposite  to  those  of  the  Eng- 

("9) 


120  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

lish;  and  hence  may  arise  dreadful  hurricanes,  that  may 
sweep  away  their  puissance  in  the  East. 

How  many  revolutions,  how  much  strife  between  men 
and  things,  shall  be  occasioned  by  the  development  of 
the  destiny  of  that  empire  which  successively  overawes 
and  enslaves  all  surrounding  nations?  It  must,  indeed, 
be  owned  that  her  influence  in  each  place  ought  to  de- 
crease in  an  inverse  proportion  to  the  multiplicity  of 
these  places.  But  how  great  is  the  influence  of  these 
augmenting  points  of  contact,  relative  to  Europe!  And, 
without  prematurely  divining  the  fate  of  Turkey  in 
Europe,  with  an  intent  to  overcharge  the  picture,  should 
Russia  seize  on  the  Polish  Ukraine,  as  the  manner  in 
which  she  is  arming  on  the  Black  Sea,  and  disposing  of  her 
commerce,  seem  to  indicate  and  to  threaten,  how  much 
greater  shall  they  still  be?  What  species  of  understanding 
must  the  Emperor  possess,  if  it  be  impossible  to  make 
him  perceive  that  the  Turks  and  the  Poles  are  less  dan- 
gerous neighbors  than  those  strange  people;  who  are 
susceptible  of  all,  capable  of  all,  who  become  the  best 
soldiers  in  the  world,  and  who,  of  all  the  men  that 
inhabit  the  globe,  are  the  most  malleable? 

The  various  ideas  I  have  acquired  here,  where  I  have 
made  a  tolerable  harvest,  will  be  comprised  in  a  particu- 
lar memorial.  They  are  not  immediately  necessary,  and 
are  too  numerous  to  be  inserted  in  my  dispatches.  But 
there  was  one  temptation,  which  was  rather  expensive, 
that  I  could  not  resist.  The  Elector  has  employed  his 
engineers  in  the  topography  of  Saxony.  Twenty-four 
maps  have  already  been  laid  down ;  they  are  kept  in  great 
secrecy,  and  yet,  by  paying  some  louis  for  each  map,  I 
can  have  them  copied.  True  it  is  I  recollected  that,  since 
I  COULD,  M.  de  Vibraye  perhaps  HAS — but,  as  we  rarely  do 
all  we  may,  or  even  all  we  ought  to  do,  it  is  exceedingly 
possible  this  should  not  be  so;  and  then  I  should  have 
lost  an  opportunity  that  nevermore  could  be  recovered. 
This  reflection  determined  me,  in  the  hope  that  the  in- 
tent of  the  act  would  be  its  apology;  and,  as  I  have  not 
put  the  Government  to  the  least  fruitless  expense,  or  which 
did  not  appertain  to  the  better  execution  of  the  office  I 


THE  COURT  OF   BERLIN  121 

have  undertaken,  my  surplus  accounts,  I  suppose,  will  be 
passed. 

The  Elector  of  Bavaria  is  not  ill.  His  new  mistress 
seems  only  to  have  been  the  whim  of  a  day,  and  his 
favor  again  reverts  to  his  former,  Madame  von  Toning 
Seefeld,  originally  Minuzzi. 


LETTER    XXX. 

DRESDEN,*  September  3oth,  1786. 

You  have  been  informed,  no  doubt,  by  the  courier  of 
Tuesday,  of  what  happened  on  Monday,  at  the  first 
Court  held  by  the  Queen;  but,  as  I  think  it  is 
proper  I  should  add  some  reflections  on  this  subject,  I 
shall  begin  by  relating  what  passed. 

The  Princess  Frederica  of  Prussia,  who  imagined  that, 
according  to  the  very  sensible  custom  of  the  country, 
the  Queen  would  sit  down  to  play  with  natives,  and  not 
with  foreign  ambassadors,  had  placed  the  Comte  d'Es- 
terno  at  her  table ;  for  it  was  she  who  arranged  the  par- 
ties. She  asked  the  Queen  whom  she  appointed  for  her 
own  table.  The  Queen  named  Prince  Reuss,  the  Aus- 
trian Ambassador,  and  the  Prince  of  Goethe;  but,  this 
species  of  infantine  elephant  having,  after  some  consid- 
eration, declared  that  he  did  not  know  any  one  game, 
the  Queen  substituted  Romanzow,  the  Russian  Ambassa- 
dor. The  Princess  Frederica  was  exceedingly  surprised, 
but  either  dared  not,  or  would  not  make  any  remon- 
strances; and  the  Queen's  party  sitting  down  to  play, 
the  Comte  d'Esterno,  with  great  positiveness,  energy, 
and  emphasis,  refused  to  sit  down  at  the  table  of  the 
Princess;  declaring  he  certainly  would  not  play.  He  im- 
mediately withdrew. 

Everybody  blames  the  Queen  and  the  Count.  The 
first  for  having  committed  an  unexampled  blunder,  and 
the  second,  say  the  people  of  Berlin,  ought  not  to  have 
refused  the  daughter  of  the  King.  Perhaps  this  judg- 
ment is  severe;  though  I  own  I  should  not  myself  have 
refused;  because,  in  my  opinion,  we  should  not  show  we 
are  insulted,  except  when  we  wish  to  be  supposed  insulted. 
And,  as  I  think,  it  would  have  been  very  thoughtless  to 

*  The  scene  of  this  and  the  two  following  letters,  though  dated  at 
Dresden,  is  Berlin. 

(122) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  123 

have  taken  serious  notice  of  the  absurd  mistake  of  a 
Princess  who  is  the  most  awkward  of  all  the  Princesses 
in  Europe.  Neither  had  Comte  d'Esterno,  rigorously 
speaking,  any  greater  cause  for  complaint  than  any  other 
of  the  royal  ambassadors,  among  whom  there  is  no  claim 
of  precedency.  Perhaps,  too,  it  would  be  imprudent  to 
endeavor  to  establish  any  such  claim;  for  this  would  be 
very  certainly  to  call  that  in  question  which  tradition 
and  universal  tolerance  have  granted  to  us.  And  here 
let  me  observe  that,  as  soon  as  Lord  Dalrymple  knew 
Comte  d'Esterno  had  been  to  complain  to  Count  Fincken- 
stein,  he  declared  he  made  no  demand  of  precedency 
whatever;  but  neither  would  he  suffer  precedency  from 
anyone.  I  should,  therefore,  have  accepted  the  party 
of  the  Princess;  but  should  have  said  aloud,  and,  point- 
ing to  the  table  of  the  Queen,  <(I  see  we  are  all  here 
without  distinction  of  persons ;  and  certainly  fortune  could 
not  have  been  more  favorable  to  me.*  (The  Princess 
may  really  be  called  handsome.)  Had  I  thought  I  still 
owed  more  to  my  Sovereign,  I  should,  on  the  next  Court 
day,  have  refused  the  nomination  of  the  Queen;  though 
it  must  have  been  a  violent  and  hazardous  step,  and 
reparation  must  have  become  a  public  topic;  instead  of 
which  it  is  the  insult  only  that  is  talked  of,  and  that 
considerably,  in  the  world. 

Will  the  Comte  d'Esterno,  or  will  he  not,  at  present, 
accept  the  first  invitation  he  shall  receive  ?  Should  he 
comply,  it  will  remain  on  record  that,  having  resented 
the  procedure,  he  has  acknowledged  himself  second. 
Yet  how  may  he  refuse  ?  I  have  proposed  to  Prince 
Henry,  who  is  the  mezzo  termine,  that  there  should  be  a 
Court  held  by  the  Queen  Dowager,  who,  from  her  cir- 
cumspection and  native  dignity,  is  more  respected  than 
the  reigning  Queen;  and  that  Comte  d'Esterno  should 
be  of  her  party,  with  the  Emperor's  Ambassador;  which 
distinction  would  be  the  more  marked  because  that  this 
Queen  never  yet  played  with  foreign  ministers.  If  her 
mourning  for  her  husband  does  not  counteract  this  pro- 
ject, it  seems  to  me  the  best  under  the  present  circum- 
stances. The  Queen  has  written  a  letter  to  Count 
Finckenstein,  which  must  have  been  read  to  Comte  d'Es- 


124  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

terno,  in  which  is  inserted  the  word  EXCUSE,  and  wherein 
she  requires  the  King  should  not  be  informed  of  the 
affair.  But  it  is  answered  the  offense  was  public,  and 
excuses  are  wished  to  be  kept  secret,  since  silence  is 
required. 

The  most  important  and  incontestably  certain  fact  is, 
that  there  was  no  premeditation  in  the  matter;  that  it 
was  the  silly  giddiness  of  the  Queen  in  which  it  origi- 
nated; that  Count  Finckenstein  and  the  whole  Court  are 
vexed  at  the  affair;  that  should  the  King  hear  of  it  he 
will  be  very  much  offended  with  the  Queen,  whom  he 
has  not  seen  for  these  six  weeks,  and  whom  he  thwarts 
on  all  occasions;  that  he  has  reversed  all  the  arrange- 
ments which,  in  the  rapture  of  accession,  she  had  made 
with  the  Master  of  the  Household;  and  that,  in  fine, 
never  had  Queen  of  Prussia,  that  is  to  say,  the  most 
insignificant  of  queens,  less  influence. 

If,  therefore,  it  be  true,  on  the  one  part,  that  the  place 
of  every  man  in  this  world  is  that  which  he  himself 
shall  assign  to  himself,  that  our  rank,  already  much  on 
the  decline  in  the  public  opinion,  has  no  need  to  sink 
lower,  and  that  Russian  insolence,  which  takes  indefati- 
gable strides,  has  need  of  being  watched  and  traversed, 
it  is  perfectly  certain  on  the  other,  also,  that  the  pro- 
ceeding of  Monday  was  distinct  and  unmeaning,  which 
ought  not  to  be  regarded  with  a  lowering  brow,  under 
circumstances  which  may  lead  from  lowering  to  cold 
distance,  and  from  the  latter  to  great  changes;  or,  at 
least,  to  decisively  false  steps,  to  which  the  Courts  of 
Vienna  and  London  are  desirous  of  giving  birth,  and  by 
which  they  will  not  fail  to  profit. 

Such  is  my  advice,  since  I  have  had  the  honor  to 
have  this  advice  asked.  Permit  me  to  add,  that  Berlin 
is  not  any  longer  an  indifferent  embassy,  but  that  it  is 
necessary  there  to  be  active,  yet  cautious;  amiable,  yet 
dignified ;  firm,  yet  pliant ;  faithful,  yet  subtle ;  in  a  word, 
to  unite  qualities  which  do  not  often  meet.  M.  de  Vi- 
braye  means  to  ask  this  embassy,  should  Cotnte  d'Esterno 
retire,  or  be  sent  elsewhere.  I  speak  uninterestedly, 
since  I  have  no  reason  to  presume  that,  should  it  be 
determined  to  send  me  on  an  embassy,  I  should  begin 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  125 

by  one  of  so  much  consequence;  but  it  is  my  duty  to 
say  that  M.  de  Vibraye,  and  particularly  his  lady,  are 
not  the  proper  persons.  His  understanding  is  heavy  and 
confined;  rather  turbulent  than  active;  and  timid  than 
prudent.  He  is  more  the  giver  of  dinners  than  the 
representative  of  monarchy;  he  has  neither  manners, 
elocution,  nor  eyes.  Madame  de  Vibraye,  who  does  not 
want  understanding,  would  be  too  gay  even  for  Paris, 
and,  to  speak  plainly,  she  has  little  propriety,  and  less 
decency.  But  as  she  is  enterprising,  she  makes  pre- 
tensions to  dignity  with  all  the  behavior  of  thoughtless- 
ness; and,  as  she  molds  her  husband  as  she  pleases, 
by  suffering  him  to  believe  he  is  absolute  master,  she 
renders  him  morose,  uncivil,  and  rude.  Besides  which, 
she  sequesters  him  from  the  world;  and  such  seques- 
tration must  everywhere,  and  particularly  at  Berlin,  be 
totally  disadvantageous  to  an  Ambassador  of  France. 
This  is  one  of  the  errors  of  Comte  d'Esterno. 

The  following  is  the  chief  intelligence  I  hear  concern- 
ing the  King  and  his  administration,  relative  either  to 
his  absence  or  his  return.  He  is  exceedingly  dissatisfied 
with  the  Stadtholder.  It  is  affirmed  you  ought  to  accept 
the  declaration  of  Count  Goertz.  I  repeat  incessantly, 
that  this  is  the  very  time  when  our  intentions  ought  no 
longer  to  be  suspected;  since  assuredly,  if  we  wish  the 
destruction  of  the  Stadtholdership,  the  Prince  of  Orange 
has  given  us  a  fine  opportunity.  Prince  Henry  affirms 
that,  provided  he  was  restored  to  the  right  of  main- 
taining order,  and  not  of  giving  order,  at  the  Hague, 
and  was  in  possession  of  a  little  money,  the  King  would 
be  contented.  I  believe  he,  the  King,  feels  the  necessity 
of  not  making  a  false  step  at  the  beginning  of  his 
political  career.  One  fact,  I  can  assure  you,  is  certain, 
which  is  that  it  was  the  advice  of  Hertzberg  to  march 
ten  thousand  men  into  Holland;  and  that  there  was  on 
this  occasion  a  very  warm  contention  between  him  and 
General  Moellendorf,  in  the  King's  presence.  By  this 
you  may  judge  of  what  is  to  be  expected  from  the  vio- 
lence of  such  a  Minister.  Still,  however,  this  has  not 
prevented  him  from  being  created  a  Count  in  Prussia; 
and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  his  influence  continues. 


126  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

With  respect  to  domestic  affairs,  whatever  Prince 
Henry  may  say  to  the  contrary,  the  credit  of  Schulem- 
burg  is  on  the  decline;  were  it  only  that  he  no  longer 
appears  in  the  transaction  of  public  business.  It  is, 
however,  affirmed  that  he,  with  many  others,  is  soon  to 
be  made  a  Count,  for  they  are  not  economists  of  their 
titles.  The  commission  for  the  regulation  of  the  cus. 
toms  begins  to  strike  bold  strokes;  but  they  alight  on 
individuals,  and  are  not  aimed  at  general  reformation. 
Launay  has  received  information  that  the  King  hence- 
forth can  give  him  only  six  thousand  crowns  per  annum, 
in  lieu  of  twenty  thousand,  the  sum  he  before  had;  and 
that  he  must  accept  this  or  resign.  Launay,  enraged, 
and  the  more  so  because  he  has  long  since  demanded 
his  dismissal,  loudly  declares  he  will  print  an  estimate,* 
which  will  prove  not  only  that,  in  justification  of  each 
of  his  acts,  he  has  a  letter  from  the  late  King,  the  fiscal 
temper  of  whom  he  has  moderated  much  oftener  than 
he  has  provoked,  but  that  he  likewise  has  refused  twenty 
bargains,  offered  him  by  Frederick  II.,  which  would 
have  acquired  him  tons  of  gold.  The  scandal  of  this  es- 
timate, should  he  dare  to  publish  it,  will  be  very  great; 
and  the  analyzing  of  it  will  rather  be  a  commission  of 
inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  the  late  King  than  of  the 
present  state  of  the  customs,  which  might  easily  have 
been  foreseen  were  thus  regulated.  The  commissioners 
have  dismissed  Roux,  the  only  able  man  among  the  col- 
lectors, with  a  pension  of  five  hundred  crowns;  and 
Groddard,  a  person  of  insignificance,  with  a  like  sum. 
They  have  bestowed  their  places  on  Koepke  and  Beyer, 
with  a  salary  of  three  thousand  crowns,  neither  of  whom 
know  anything, —  with  this  difference,  that  the  last  is 
exact,  assiduous,  and  laborious;  but  both  of  them  are 
without  information,  and  devoid  of  principles.  Generally 
speaking,  the  commissioners  themselves  have  none;  nor 
have  they  the  least  knowledge  of  how  they  ought  to  act. 
Commissions  here  will  all  be  the  same;  for,  exclusive  of 
the  inconveniences  that  are  annexed  to  them  in  every 
country,  there  is  in  this  the  additional  one  that  men  of 
knowledge  are  very  scarce,  and  they  must,  therefore, 

*  Compte  rendu. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  127 

long  continue  ill-sorted.  But  the  King  wishes  to  satisfy 
some,  bestow  places  on  those  who  have  protectors,  and 
particularly  not  to  have  any  Prime  Minister.  There 
must  be  an  embargo  on  business  while  it  remains  in 
this  state;  and  I  have  many  reasons  for  supposing  that 
no  person  will,  for  some  months  to  come,  have  found 
his  true  place,  or  that  which  he  is  destined  to  keep;  we 
must  not,  therefore,  be  in  haste  to  judge. 

But  we  may  affirm  that  the  King  has  exceedingly  dis- 
pleased the  people, —  less  in  refusing  to  partake  of  the 
festival  prepared  for  his  return  than  in  avoiding  the 
street  where  the  citizens  had  assembled  to  see  him  pass. 
*  He  treats  us  as  his  uncle  did,  on  his  return  from  the 
Seven  Years'  War, w  say  the  mob ;  *  but,  before  imitating 
him  in  this,  he  ought  to  have  imitated  the  great  actions 
of  his  uncle.*  It  must  be  owned  good  sense  is  some- 
times on  the  side  of  the  multitude. 

With  respect  to  the  domestic  affairs  of  the  palace,  any- 
one may  remark  at  the  first  glance  that  they  are  totally 
in  disorder.  No  master,  no  one  to  give  directions,  no 
funds  assigned;  footmen  and  the  household  officers  gov- 
ern all.  Dufour,  or  Chauvier  ( I  before  explained  to  you 
that  this  was  one  and  the  same  person),  like  all  the 
other  subordinate  confidants  without  any  influence  what- 
ever, is  rather  ill,  than  well  treated.  Colonel  Vartensle- 
ben,  formerly  banished  into  Prussia  because  of  his 
intimacy  with  the  hereditary  Prince,  is  supposed  to  in- 
crease in  favor.  But  the  two  men  to  be  observed  are  — 
Welner,  to  whom  it  is  affirmed  are  communicated  all 
ministerial  papers,  the  reports  on  all  projects,  and  the 
revisal  of  all  decisions;  and  Bishopswerder,  who,  besides 
universal  suspicion,  talks  with  too  much  affectation  of 
having  no  influence  over  the  King  not  to  betray  himself, 
in  a  country  where  people  are  not  artful  enough  to  say 
they  do  not  possess  a  thing  which  they  really  do  not 
possess  in  order  that  it  may  be  supposed  they  do. 

With  respect  to  pleasures,  they  are  improved  upon. 
One  very  remarkable  arrangement  is,  that  a  cook  has 
been  appointed  for  the  Princess  Frederica  of  Prussia, 
the  King's  daughter  by  his  first  Queen;  thus  she  is  to 
have  a  kind  of  household;  which,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 


128  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

is  nothing  more  than  a  mode,  and  none  of  the  most 
moral,  of  procuring  frequent  and  decent  interviews  with 
Mademoiselle  Voss,  who  is  capitulating;  for  she  has  de- 
clared that  no  hopes  of  success  must  be  entertained  as 
long  as  Madame  Rietz  shall  continue  to  be  visited.  The 
latter  went  to  meet  the  King  on  his  return;  then,  pass- 
ing through  the  city  with  an  arrow's  speed,  she  flew  to 
Charlottenburg,  whither  the  King  came,  and  where  she 
lives.  She  acts  the  prudent  part  of  taking  charge  herself 
of  the  pleasures  of  his  Majesty;  who  apparently  sets  a 
great  price  on  any  new  enjoyment,  be  it  of  what  kind  it 
may. 

It  is  secretly  rumored,  though  I  cannot  warrant  its 
truth,  that  England  is  prodigal  in  caresses,  and  reiterated 
offers  of  a  treaty  of  commerce,  on  the  most  advantageous 
terms;  and  that  Russia  itself  spares  no  advances.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  our  enemies  and  their  partisans  loudly  pro- 
claim that  we  have  lately  disbanded  ten  thousand 
men;  which  is  sufficient  proof,  say  they,  that  we 
have  no  thoughts  of  holding  the  two  imperial  Courts  in 
awe. 

I  can  also  certify  that  the  Grand  Duke  and  the  Grand 
Duchess,  who  long  had  afforded  no  signs  of  existence  to 
Prince  Henry,  have  lately  written  him  very  charming 
letters,  but  these  are  no  impediments  to  the  licentious 
discourse  of  Romanzow,  who,  on  the  eve  of  the  King's 
funeral,  asked,  in  a  public  company,  whether  there  would 
not  be  rejoicings  on  the  morrow;  and  who  has  bestowed 
the  epithet  of  THE  ILLUMINATION  OF  THE  FIVE  CANDLES  on 
the  night  of  the  second,  on  which  homage  was  paid 
to  the  new  King,  and  when  a  general  illumination  was 
ordered.  Apropos  of  homage,  Prince  Henry  is  permitted 
to  make  written  oath,  and  this  favor  has  not  a  little  re- 
doubled his  fumes ;  he  still  wagers  that  Hertzberg  will  be 
disgraced.  This  Hertzberg  yesterday  read  a  pompous 
account  to  the  Academy  of  his  journey  into  Prussia,  and 
he  was  suffocated  with  incense  by  all  the  candidates. 
Nothing  could  be  more  completely  silly. 

I  shall  conclude  with  a  word  concerning  Saxony.  I 
do  not  believe  the  health  of  the  Elector  to  be  good,  he 
withers  visibly;  and  this  is  promoted  by  the  violent 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  129 

exercise  which  he  takes,  from  system,  and  in  which  he 
perseveres  with  all  his  invincible  obstinacy.  He  will 
leave  no  sons,  and  there  is  no  imagining  the  hypocritic 
imbecility  of  his  brothers,  who  are  not  married;  the 
result  of  which  is  that  this  fine  country  is  dangerously 
menaced  by  future  contingencies.  Marcolini,  as  I  have 
said,  is  on  his  journey  through  Italy;  and  it  is  supposed 
that  one  of  his  commissions  is  to  seek  a  wife  for  Prince 
Anthony.  Prince  Henry,  who  fears  lest  choice  should 
be  made  of  a  Tuscan  Princess,  or  some  other  of  the 
Austrian  alliances,  has  conceived  the  project  of  bestow- 
ing the  hand  of  the  Princess  de  Conde"  on  him,  by 
which  we  should  secure  the  Electorate  and  the  Elector. 
I  give  this  as  I  received  it. 

FIRST  POSTSCRIPT. —  Let  me  add  that,  with  respect  to 
the  map  I  determined  to  have  secretly  copied,  it  is  the 
map  of  the  most  important  part  of  Saxony;  and  one 
which  all  the  foreign  ambassadors,  without  exception, 
with  M.  de  Vibraye  at  their  head,  are  convinced  the 
Elector  will  not  permit  his  brother  to  see.  I  have  had 
a  windfall  much  more  valuable, —  that  of  the  land  survey 
of  1783,  made  with  great  exactitude,  and  containing  a 
circumstantial  division  of  territorial  wealth.  I  shall  have 
it  copied  in  haste,  for  which  I  do  not  imagine  I  shall  be 
blamed.  M.  de  Vibraye  is  quitting  Dresden,  whither  he 
does  not  wish  to  return.  It  is  a  pleasant  post,  and  a  very 
excellent  one  from  which  to  observe  the  Emperor  and 
the  King  of  Prussia. 

Boden  is  on  the  road  hither;  he  is  imagined  to  be 
presumptuous  enough  to  solicit  the  French  Embassy. 
Either  he  will  be  disappointed  or  the  Court  of  Berlin 
will  act  improperly.  The  King  still  continues  in  the  inten- 
tion of  sending  you  Alvensleben.  I  spoke  to  you  of  him 
when  at  Dresden,  where  I  conversed  much  with  him ;  he 
is  certainly  a  man  of  information  and  understanding.  M. 
d'Entragues  was  intimately  acquainted  with  him,  and 
this  friendship  has  continued.  It  would  be  very  easy  to 
send  for  M.  d'Entragues,  who  is  at  Montpellier;  whether 
it  were  to  conduct  or  to  watch  his  entrance  on  the  scene 
of  action. 
9 


130  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

SECOND  POSTSCRIPT. —  Prince  Henry  was  sent  for  by  the 
King  this  morning-,  on  business,  and  invited  to  go  and 
dine  at  Charlottenburg.  This  he  has  acquainted  me  with, 
and  desired  me  to  come  to  him  at  five  o'clock.  I  can 
add  nothing  to  this  enormous  length  of  ciphering,  except 
that  I  wish  to  repeat  that  the  intelligence  of  the  ten 
thousand  men  proposed  by  Hertzberg  is  fact.  It  has 
appeared  so  important  to  me,  when  combined  with  the 
affairs  of  Hattem  and  Elburg,  which  seemed  to  give  in- 
vincible demonstration  that  Count  Hertzberg  had  long 
promised,  in  the  secret  correspondence  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  the  aid  of  the  army  of  the  new  King.  I  say  this 
information  appeared  so  important  that  I  thought  it  my 
duty  to  make  it  known  to  the  Comte  d'Esterno,  by  a 
channel  which  he  cannot  suspect  is  derived  from  me. 

With  respect  to  Court  intrigues  here,  I  have  proof  that 
Prince  Henry  tells  everything  to  Prince  Ferdinand,  who 
tells  everything  to  his  wife,  who,  lured  by  the  tempting 
bribes  she  receives  in  ready  money,  betrays  Prince  Henry. 
Luckily,  the  excessive  stupidity  of  this  Princess  deadens 
her  influence,  and  congeals  the  good-will  which  the  King 
wishes  to  entertain  for  her. 


LETTER    XXXI. 

DRESDEN,  October  3<i,  1786. 

I  HAVE  had  very  little  time  for  the  courier  of  to-day, 
having  spent  all  day  yesterday,  from  six  o'clock  in 
the  morning  till  night,  at,  and  in  the  affairs  of,  the 
Court.  The  ceremony  of  rendering  homage  was  awful, 
notwithstanding  the  narrowness  of  the  place  in  which  the 
States  were  received.  As  moral  ideas  have  a  great  influ- 
ence, even  unperceived  by  us,  on  our  physical  sensations, 
this  tribute  of  respect,  paid  by  armed  despotism  to  the 
nation  it  governs,  this  species  of  paternal  colloquy  be- 
tween the  Monarch  and  the  deputies,  here  called  the 
States,  establishing  in  some  manner  a  correlative  engage- 
ment, —  to  which  only  a  little  more  dignity  on  the  part 
of  the  deputies,  and  at  least  the  appearance  of  delibera- 
tion, are  wanting  to  give  pleasure  to  the  heart, —  fill  the 
mind  with  sublime  and  affecting  reveries.  To  a  Prince 
capable  of  reflection,  I  would  only  wish  this  ceremony  to 
be  contrasted  with  the  military  oath,  and  the  different 
emotions  they  excite  to  be  analyzed,  in  order  to  lead  him 
to  examine  whether  it  be  true  that  a  monarchy  depends 
wholly  upon  force,  and  whether  the  pyramid  ought  to  rest 
upon  its  basis  or  upon  its  point. 

After  the  discourse  of  the  Minister  of  Justice  (Reek) 
to  the  States,  after  the  harangue  of  the  first  order  (the 
ecclesiastics),  conducted  by  Prince  Frederick  of  Bruns- 
wick, Provost  of  the  Chapter  of  Brandenburg,  and  after 
the  oath  of  the  nobility,  the  declaration  and  confirmation 
of  privileges,  the  enumeration  of  titles  to  be  bestowed, 
made  by  the  Minister  Hertzberg  (the  Minister  Schulem- 
burg  is  one  among  the  number  of  new  Counts),  the  King 
advanced,  on  a  projecting  balcony,  over  which  a  very  fine 
canopy  had  been  raised,  to  receive  the  oaths  and  the  horn  • 
age  of  the  people.  The  citizens  were  assembled,  by  com- 
panies, wards,  and  trades,  in  the  square  opposite  the 
palace.  The  symptoms  of  tumultuous  joy  are  here,  as 

(131) 


i32  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

elsewhere,  the  effects  of  sympathy  (I  had  almost  said 
contagious)  between  a  great  multitude  of  men,  assembled 
to  behold  one  elevated  superior  to  them  all,  whom  they 
called  their  Monarch  and  their  Master,  and  on  whom,  in 
reality,  depends  the  greatest  part  of  the  blessings  or  the 
woes  that  await  them. 

It  must,  however,  be  remarked  that  the  order  was 
much  greater  all  the  day,  and  at  night,  than  could  have 
been  hoped  in  any  other  large  metropolis.  It  is  true 
that  they  distribute  here  neither  wine,  cervelats*  nor 
money.  The  largesses  are  distributed  to  each  quar- 
ter, and  pass  through  the  hands  of  the  pastor  and  the 
magistrate.  It  is  equally  true  that  the  passions  of  this 
are  scarcely  so  strong  as  the  emotions  of  other  nations. 

The  King  dined  upward  of  six  hundred  people.  All 
who  were  noble  were  invited.  When  the  proposal  was 
made  to  me  to  remain,  I  replied  that,  apparently,  only 
the  national  nobility  was  meant;  and  that,  had  it  been 
intended  to  admit  foreigners  to  that  favor,  they  no  doubt 
would  have  had  the  honor  of  receiving  such  an  intima- 
tion. All  the  English,  and  almost  all  the  French,  like 
me,  and  with  me,  retired. 

The  illuminations  were  not  very  great.  One  was  re- 
marked where  all  the  small  lamps  were  covered  over  by 
crape,  so  that  the  light  appeared  dim,  gloomy,  and  truly 
funereal.  This  was  the  invention  of  a  Jew,  and  it  was 
in  the  front  of  his  own  house  that  it  took  place.  It  calls 
to  my  mind  a  beautiful  passage  in  the  sermon  which 
preceded  the  ceremony,  and  which  was  preached  in  the 
Lutheran  church.  The  minister  of  the  prevailing  reli- 
gion long  invoked,  and  with  considerable  pathos  and 
energy,  the  blessings  of  toleration,  — u  That  happy  and 
holy  harvest,  for  which  the  Prussian  provinces  are  in- 
debted to  the  family  by  which  they  are  governed.8 

I  send  you  the  best  medals  that  were  struck  on  the 
occasion.  They  are  your  own.  Others  are  to  be  dis- 
tributed among  the  foreign  ambassadors,  who,  no  doubt, 
will  send  them  home.  There  are  some  in  gold,  but  I 
thought  them  too  dear,  the  workmanship  considered. 
Each  general  in  the  service  was  presented  with  a  large 

*  A  species  of  large  sausage. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  133 

medal,  the  price  of  which  is  forty  crowns.  Each  com- 
mander of  a  regiment  received  a  small  one,  of  the  price 
of  six  ducats.  The  large  are  good,  the  small  very  in- 
different. I  speak  of  those  that  were  distributed  yester- 
day; and  only  of  the  likeness. 

October  4th,   1786. 

THE  day  of  homage  and  its  preparations  have  wholly 
consumed  the  time,  and  obstructed  all  society,  since  the 
last  courier;  for  which  reason  I  have  at  present  little  to 
say.  Prince  Henry  was  invited,  the  other  day,  princi- 
pally, as  I  believe,  let  him  say  what  he  will,  because  M. 
de  Custine,  the  father,  dined  with  the  King.  However, 
his  Majesty,  before  dinner,  spoke  to  the  Prince  concern- 
ing Holland,  and  complained  that  the  discourse  of  M.  de 
Veyrac,  who  had  informed  Goertz  he  could  not  interfere, 
was  in  exact  contradiction  to  the  promises  of  the  Cabinet 
of  Versailles.  The  subject  of  Holland  puts  him  out  of 
temper,  as  it  naturally  must ;  and  yet,  as  I  have  inces- 
santly repeated,  <(  When  could  we  find  a  better  opportu- 
nity of  acting  disinterestedly  than  at  present;  now  that 
the  Stadtholder,  contrary  to  reason  and  all  propriety,  has 
taken  a  violent  and  decisive  part,  a  few  days  before  the 
arrival  of  the  advice  which  was  intended  to  be  sent  him 
by  the  King?* 

I  have  had  a  very  impassioned  scene,  concerning  Hol- 
land, with  Count  Hertzberg:  patience,  firmness,  and  some- 
thing of  cunning,  on  my  part ;  violence,  passion,  and  want 
of  reason,  on  his.  It  is  evident  to  me  that  he  is  pur- 
suing some  secret  project  concerning  Holland. 

Apropos  of  M.  de  Custine;  he  made  the  King  wait  an 
hour  for  him  at  dinner.  It  is  a  melancholy  circumstance 
for  France  that  she  should  continually  be,  in  some 
measure,  represented  by  certain  travelers,  when  political 

affairs  are  in  a  delicate  state.  Our  Due  de  la  F , 

amid  an  assembly  of  our  enemies,  said  to  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  (<  Apropos ;  pray  has  your  Highness  ever 
served  ?  *  At  Dresden,  a  ceremonious  and  circumspect 
place,  where  our  embassy  has  given  much  dissatisfaction, 
this  same  pitiable  interrogator,  having  been  shown  a  col- 
lection of  precious  stones,  the  most  magnificent  that 


134  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

exists  in  Europe,  said  to  the  Elector  at  high  dinner, 
wVery  good!  Yes,  indeed,  very  good!  Pray  how  much 
did  the  collection  cost  your  Highness?  *  A  certain  M.  de 

P ,  a  week  before  the  death  of    the    King,    dining  at 

Potsdam  with  the  Prince  of  Prussia,  hearing  the  name 
of  M.  de  H mentioned,  exclaimed,  "  Apropos;  I  for- 
got that  I  have  a  letter  from  him,  which  I  am  to  give 
you.  *  And  this  letter  he  threw  to  the  Prince  across  the 
table.  He  no  doubt  imagined  such  familiarity  was  ex- 
ceedingly natural  —  he  who,  at  Prague,  taking  leave  of 
the  Emperor,  seized  and  shook  him  by  the  hand,  testify- 
ing the  great  satisfaction  he  had  received  at  having  seen 
his  manceuvers,  and  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  him. 

And,  what  is  better,    it   is    M.  de  who    relates    this 

anecdote  here;  which  there  are  Englishmen  enough 
would  take  care  should  not  have  been  forgotten,  had  he 
not  with  so  much  precaution  treasured  it  up  in  his  mem 
ory.  Wherefore  permit  such  people  to  travel,  whom,  by 
means  of  the  places  they  enjoy,  it  is  easy  to  detain  at 
home  ?  There  is  no  possibility  of  exaggerating  the  evil 
which  such  ridiculous  pasquinades  produce,  at  a  moment 
when  the  ill-designing  are  so  numerous,  and  who  wish 
that  the  nation  should  be  judged  by  such  specimens. 

Suffer  me  further  to  remark,  of  Messieurs  de  Custine, 
that,  foolish  as  the  father  is,  physically  a  fool,  a  fool 
unmeasurable  and  disgusting,  equally  is  the  son  a  man 
of  great  hopes,  and  appears  in  all  companies  with 
universal  success.  Not  any  man  so  young,  with  whom 
I  am  acquainted,  unites  so  much  modesty,  so  much 
reason,  and  such  decent  timidity,  to  so  great  a  talent  for 
observation,  or  to  manners  so  agreeable  and  mild,  so 
much  caution  and  wise  activity.  There  is  no  doubt  but 
that  the  extravagances  of  the  father  display  these  qualities 
to  advantage  in  the  son,  but  they  exist,  and  on  the  most 
solid  basis,  for,  in  all  probability,  he  has  taken  an  aver- 
sion for,  by  being  a  continual  spectator  of,  the  follies  of 
his  father.  He  is  a  scion  who,  of  all  the  young  men  I 
have  known,  is  most  proper  to  be  transplanted  into  the 
diplomatic  nursery. 

The  King,  all  yesterday,  was  cold  and  taciturn;  not 
an  emotion,  not  a  gracious  word,  not  a  smile.  The 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  135 

Minister  Reek,  who  harangued  the  States  in  the  name 
of  the  Sovereign,  promised,  in  his  discourse,  that  no  new 
tax  should  be  imposed  during  the  present  reign,  but  that, 
on  the  contrary,  those  that  existed  should  be  diminished. 
Was  he  commanded  to  make  this  promise,  or  did  he 
venture  to  make  it  uncommanded?  Of  this  I  am  ignorant, 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  doubt. 

The  day  before  yesterday,  the  King  had  some  domestic 
brawls  and  a  scene  of  jealousy,  at  Charlottenburg,  to 
support  from  Madame  Rietz.  The  remembrance  perhaps 
remained  with  him  yesterday;  whether  or  no,  the  dis- 
course of  his  Minister  of  Justice  spoke  more  pleasingly 
than  his  countenance,  however  agreeable  it  may  in  reality 
be.  He  is  to  depart  on  the  fourth  for  Silesia,  and  does 
not  return  till  the  seventeenth. 

A  part  of  the  palace  is  at  present  furnishing,  but  in  a 
simple  style. 

Public  notice  has  been  given  that  those  persons  who 
had  been  promised  reversions  of  fiefs  should  appear,  that 
their  reversions  were  annulled,  and  that  they  were  not 
allowed  to  solicit  till  first  there  should  be  a  vacant  fief, 
and  not  for  the  reversion  of  fiefs. 

I  have  seen  a  narrative  of  what  passed  in  Prussia. 
The  person  who  wrote  it  has  employed  very  sounding 
expressions  to  depict  the  enthusiasm  of  the  public,  and 
among  them,  the  following  phrase  of  the  King:  tt  I  have 
found  Prussia  very  ill,  but  I  will  cure  her.w 

Count  Katzerling,  who  had  suffered  great  losses  during 
the  Seven  Years'  War,  and  met  with  very  ill  treatment 
from  the  late  Monarch,  after  having  been  very  gra- 
ciously received  by  him,  had  accepted  a  loan  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  crowns,  for  thirty  years, 
without  interest. 

It  is  said  the  Bishop  of  Warmia  will  be  here  within 
three  weeks.  He  is  a  very  amiable  man,  with  the  levity 
of  a  Pole,  and  was  much  in  the  favor  of  the  Prince  of 
Prussia.  The  King  seems  to  remember  this ;  he  has  been 
treated  with  much  greater  kindness  than  any  other  person 
in  Prussia. 

In  November,  the  King  is  to  balance  the  statements  of 
expense  and  receipt. 


136  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

FIRST  POSTSCRIPT. —  I  forgot  to  inform  you  that,  for  so 
cloudy  a  day,  Prince  Henry  was  yesterday  highly  caressed 
He  dined  and  supped  with  his  Majesty,  and  singly  at- 
tended him  to  see  the  illuminations. 

SECOND  POSTSCRIPT. —  I  return  from  Court,  the  Ambas- 
sadors were  mingled  promiscuously,  but,  as  the  Minis- 
ters of  the  two  Imperial  Courts  were  together,  the  King 
proceeded  in  rather  a  singularly  retrograde  manner.  It 
so  happened  (because  of  the  number  of  Englishmen  that 
were  to  be  presented)  that  Lord  Dalrymple  was  the 
nearest  to  the  King's  door,  and  preceded  the  Imperial 
Ambassadors.  The  King  began  with  the  latter.  He 
then  returned  to  Lord  Dalrymple,  after  which  he  de- 
scended much  lower  toward  Comte  d'Esterno,  and  spoke 
no  further  to  him  than  by  thanking,  in  general,  the 
foreign  Ambassadors  for  their  illuminations.  Should  this 
neglect  of  customary  forms  continue,  I  think  it  would  be 
right  to  let  it  be  understood  that  it  gives  displeasure,  for 
the  rumor  of  the  hatred  of  the  King  for  the  French  is 
daily  strengthened,  and  rumor,  sometimes,  in  reality 
produces  the  event  it  proclaims. 


LETTER   XXXII. 

DRESDEN,  October  4th,  1786. 

IT  APPEARS  extremely  probable  that  habit  will  be  the 
conqueror,  and  that  Frederick  William  will  never 
be  more  than  what  his  penetrating  uncle  had  fore- 
boded. No  terms  are  too  hyperbolical  to  express  the  ex- 
cessive negligence  of  his  domestic  affairs,  their  disorder, 
and  his  waste  of  time.  The  valets  dread  his  violence; 
but  they  are  the  first  to  turn  his  incapacity  to  derision. 
Not  a  paper  in  its  place;  not  a  word  written  at  the  bot- 
tom of  any  of  the  memorials;  not  a  letter  personally 
opened ;  no  human  power  could  induce  him  to  read  forty 
lines  together.  It  is  at  once  the  tumult  of  vehemence 
and  the  torpor  of  inanity.  His  natural  son,  the  Count  of 
Brandenburg,  is  the  only  one  who  can  rouse  him  from  his 
lethargy ;  he  loves  the  boy  to  adoration.  His  countenance 
brightens  the  moment  he  appears,  and  he  amuses  him- 
self, every  morning,  a  considerable  time  with  this  child, 
and  this,  even  of  his  pleasures,  is  the  only  one  in  which 
he  is  regular;  for  the  remaining  hours  are  wasted  in  in- 
explicable confusion.  His  ill  humor  the  other  day,  for 
example,  which  I  had  supposed  was  occasioned  by  the 
quarrel  at  Charlottenburg,  induced  me  to  inquire  into 
particulars.  It  was  nothing  more  than  a  musical  dispute. 
The  King  would  have  a  chamber  concert.  He  ordered 
two-and-twenty  musicians  to  be  assembled.  It  was  his 
intention  to  have  performed  himself;  his  violoncello  was 
uncased  and  tuned.  Fourteen  musicians  only  came;  and 
passions,  threats,  intemperance  succeeded.  The  valets  de 
chambre  laid  the  blame  on  Kalikan,  whose  business  it  was 
to  summon  the  musicians.  Kalikan  was  thrown  into 
prison.  Duport,  the  famous  violoncello  player,  and  con- 
sequently the  favorite  musician,  came  to  the  aid  of  Kali- 
kan, and  gave  the  King  the  letter  which  the  valets  de 
chambre  had  intercepted.  His  choler  then  became  out- 
rageous; everybody  fled-  but  no  further  effects  have 

(137) 


138  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

followed  this  subaltern  prevarication.  Poor  King!  Poor 
country ! 

I  am  persuaded  by  two  particulars:  the  one,  that  his 
Majesty  has  conceived  the  idea  and  the  hope  of  becom- 
ing a  great  man,  by  making  himself  wholly  and  purely 
German,  and  by  hectoring  French  superiority;  the  other, 
that  he  is  already  in  his  heart  determined  to  resign  busi- 
ness to  a  principal  Minister.  He  has  not,  perhaps,  yet 
owned  the  fact  to  himself;  but  at  least  he  is  inwardly 
convinced  it  must  be  so.  In  this  case  his  last  resource 
will  be  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  or 
of  MY  UNCLE. 

The  first  of  these  plans  is  the  work  and  the  master- 
piece of  Count  Hertzberg.  He  has  said,  and  justly  said: 
*  There  is  only  one  mode  of  acquiring  reputation ;  which 
is  to  impart  an  impulse  to  your  nation,  that  under  your 
reign  a  new  kind  of  glory  may  take  date.  This  impulse 
you  can  only  give  by  acting  determinately.  What  can 
you  ever  effect  as  the  partisan  of  France  ?  You  can  only 
be  the  feeble  imitator  of  Frederick  II.  As  a  German 
you  will  be  an  original,  personally  revered  throughout 
Germany,  adored  by  your  people,  vaunted  by  men  of 
letters,  respected  by  Europe,  etc.,  etc."  The  explication 
of  the  enigma  is,  that  Count  Hertzberg  imagined  this  to 
be  the  shortest  road  to  make  himself  Prime  Minister. 

But  the  necessities  of  accident  demand,  or  will  soon 
demand,  a  different  person.  Servile  as  the  country  is,  it 
is  not  habituated  to  ministerial  slavery;  and  Hertzberg, 
long  a  subaltern,  rather  crafty  than  able,  deceitful  than 
cunning,  violent  than  determined,  vain  than  ambitious, 
old,  infirm,  and  not  promising  any  long  duration  of  life, 
will  not  bend  the  people  to  this  servility.  They  must 
have  (though  this  Welner,  who  is  so  much  attended  to 
at  present,  and  whose  influence  near  spectators  only  can 
discover,  may  push  his  pretensions),  I  repeat,  they  must 
have  a  man  whose  rank  can  quell  subordinate  candidates; 
and  the  number  of  such  men  is  not  great.  I  can  dis- 
cover but  two  men  of  this  kind,  —  Prince  Henry  and  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick.  To  the  disadvantage  of  not  living 
in  the  country,  the  latter  adds  that  of  being  necessarily 
formidable  to  a  feeble  and  indolent,  but  vain  and  jealous, 


THE   COURT   OF    BERLIN  139 

Prince;  who  may  imagine  that  Prince  Henry  will  not 
commit  the  same  injury  on  his,  the  Sovereign's,  reputa- 
tion as  a  Prince  who  cannot  leave  his  own  country,  and 
reside  here  constantly  as  Prime  Minister,  without  being 
undoubtedly  and  conspicuously  such.  For  which  reason 
the  credit  of  Prince  Henry  daily  strengthens,  in  spite  of 
his  ill  address.  However,  he  has  boasted  less  within 
some  few  weeks;  and,  instead  of  not  returning  from 
Rheinsberg,  whither  he  again  goes  during  the  absence 
of  the  King,  till  the  middle  of  December,  as  was  his 
intention,  he  will  be  here  on  the  same  day  as  his 
nephew. 

Yet,  exclusive  of  the  personal  defects  of  Prince  Henry, 
and  the  errors  of  which  he  will  indubitably  be  guilty, 
how  shall  we  reconcile  the  German  system  and  the 
Monarch's  hatred  of  the  French  to  the  confidence  granted 
this  Prince?  The  symptoms  of  such  hatred,  whether 
systematic  or  natural,  continually  increase  and  cor- 
respond. The  King,  when  he  dismissed  Roux  and  Grod- 

dart,    said:  <(  Voilk    done   de   ces   B dont  je    me    suis 

dtfait**  The  real  crime  of  Roux,  perhaps,  was  that  he 
kept  a  Jewess  whom  the  Prince  of  Russia  wished  to 
possess,  and  obstinately  refused  to  listen  to  any  kind  of 
accommodation.  A  French  merchant  brought  some  toys  f 
to  show  him,  to  whom  he  harshly  replied :  <(  I  have 
baubles  already  of  this  kind  to  the  amount  of  seven 
millions.*  He  then  turned  his  back,  and  did  not  utter 
another  word,  except  to  bid  him  not  go  to  the  Queen, 
for  if  he  did,  he  should  not  be  paid.  The  action  was 
far  from  blamable;  it  is  the  manner  only  that  I  notice. 
Boden  was  passably  well  received,  except  that  the  only 
consolation  he  found  for  his  fever  was,  "Go  to  Berlin, 
and  keep  yourself  quiet,  for  you  have  a  companion  that 
will  stay  by  you  these  three  months."  Boden  said  to 
him,  "  I  should  have  had  thousands  of  messages  to  your 
Majesty,  had  I  dared  to  take  charge  of  them.*  <(You 
did  well  to  refuse,*  replied  the  King;  and  in  so  rough  a 

*  «I  have  rid  myself  of  these . »  The  epithet  must  be  left  with 

the  reader ;  there  is  no  danger  he  should  be  more  indelicate  than  the 
original. 

f  Des  genttllesses,  probably  jewels, 


i4o  SECRET  COURT    MEMOIRS 

tone  that  Boden  dared  not  even  given  him  the  letters  of 
Dusaulx  and  Bitaube". 

Latmay  is  treated  with  severity,  and  even  with  tyranny. 
He  was  confined  to  his  chamber  while  his  papers 
were  examined,  independent  of  a  general  prohibition  not 
to  leave  Berlin.  One  Delatre,  his  personal  enemy,  has 
been  opposed  to  him  on  all  occasions,  and  has  been  sent 
for  to  become  an  informer  against  him, —  a  man  devoid 
of  faith  or  honor ;  suspected  of  great  crimes ;  a  dissipator 
of  the  King's  money;  an  unbridled  libelist,  and  as  such 
denounced  by  our  Court  to  that  of  Berlin,  which  officially 
returned  thanks,  two  years  ago,  for  our  behavior  on  that 
subject.  I  say  he  was  sent  for;  because  owing,  as  he 
does,  eighty  thousand  crowns  to  the  King,  would  he  have 
ventured  to  come  without  a  passport,  or  being  asked  ? 
It  is  evident  that  Launay  is  persecuted  as  a  farmer  of 
the  taxes,  and  as  a  Frenchman. 

It  is  believed  that  the  collectors  and  farmers-general 
will  all  be  dismissed*  at  the  festival  of  the  Trinity,  the 
time  when  those  accounts  that  shall  actually  be  settled 
are  to  be  examined.  This  is  the  grand  sacrifice  that  is 
to  be  offered  up  to  the  nation.  But  what  is  to  supply 
the  deficiency  in  the  revenue  ?  For  in  fine,  the  farmers, 
last  year,  paid  six  millions  eight  hundred  thousand  Ger- 
man crowns;  and  it  is  not  only  impossible  to  replace 
this  immense  sum,  but,  knowing  the  country,  it  is  easy 
to  foresee  that  the  German  farmers  of  finance  will  scarcely 
collect  the  half  of  the  amount. 

Of  what  will  the  convocation  of  the  provincial  and 
finance  counselors,  and  the"  deputies  of  the  merchants, 
be  productive?  Of  complaints,  and  not  one  project  which 
will  not  be  distinct,  partial,  and  in  contradiction  to  the 
general  system, —  or  such  as  the  nature  of  things  pre- 
sents as  a  system;  for  in  reality  not  any  as  yet  ex- 
ists. 

*Congtdier  la  rtgie. — The  late  King  introduced  the  French  into 
Prussia,  to  farm  and  collect  the  taxes,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign. 
It  was  one  of  the  most  odious  of  the  acts  of  his  internal  administration ; 
in  which  whenever  his  own  revenues  were  out  of  the  question,  he  endeav- 
ored to  act  for  the  good  of  the  people.  ENDEAVORED,  but  most  fre- 
quently did  not ;  of  this,  his  innumerable  monopolies  are  proofs  incon- 
testable. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  141 

I  return,  and  say,  all  these  projects  are  contrary  to 
the  personal  hopes  of  Prince  Henry.  Will  he  make  all 
his  passions  subservient  to  his  ambition?  ( He  is  far 
from  possessing  that  degree  of  fortitude.)  Or,  does  he 
dissemble  that  he  may  obtain  power?  Of  this  I  do  not 
believe  him  uniformly  capable.  I  rather  fear  he  is  once 
again  the  dupe  of  caresses ;  which,  however,  it  must  be 
confessed,  are  more  substantial  and  more  marked  than 
they  ever  had  been  before.  I  particularly  fear  he  should 
be  in  too  great  haste,  and  too  eager  to  gather  the  har- 
vest before  it  be  ripe;  neglecting  the  care  of  providing 
seed  for  futurity. 

The  King  has  given  the  Minister  of  Justice,  Reek,  a 
box  of  petrified  shells,  splendidly  enriched  with  dia- 
monds, estimated  to  be  worth  twelve  thousand  crowns;  a 
similar  box  to  the  Minister  Gaudi,  and  ten  thousand  crowns ; 
another  of  the  same  kind  to  General  Moellendorf;  a  fine 
solitaire  to  the  Marquis  di  Luchesini;  and  a  diamond 
ring  to  Philippi,  the  lieutenant  of  the  police.  He  has 
further  broken  up  three  boxes  set  with  diamonds,  of 
which  thirty  rings  have  been  made;  these  he  has  taken 
with  him  to  distribute  in  Silesia. 

Take  good  note,  that  Launay  has  not  had  the  alterna- 
tive of  accepting  a  salary  of  six  thousand  crowns,  or  his 
dismission;  he  has  merely  received  information,  under 
the  form  of  an  order,  that  his  salary  was  reduced  to  six 
thousand  crowns. 

Count  Hertzberg  this  day  gave  a  grand  dinner  to  for- 
eigners, to  which  the  new  Spanish  Ambassador  was  in- 
vited, but  neither  Comte  d'Esterno  nor  any  Frenchman; 
which  affectation  was  the  more  remarkable  since  all  the 
English,  Piedmontese,  Swedish,  and  not  only  foreign 
Ambassadors  but  complimentary  envoys,  were  there  as- 
sembled. Comte  d'Esterno  takes  a  proper  revenge;  he 
gives  a  grand  dinner  to-morrow,  to  which  Count  Hertz- 
berg  is  invited. 

POSTSCRIPT. —  Mr.  Ewart,  the  secretary  of  the  English 
Embassy,  said  to  me  yesterday,  in  the  presence  of  fifteen 
people,  Count  Hertzberg  supporting  him  with  voice  and 
gesture,  in  these  precise  terms,  "The  Stadtholder  is,  by 


142  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

the  constitution,  the  executive  power  in  Holland;  or  to 
speak  more  intelligibly,  he  is  precisely  in  Holland  what 
the  King  is  in  England. w  I  replied,  in  the  most  ironical 
and  dry  tone,  (<  It  is  to  be  hoped  he  will  not  be  beheaded 
by  his  subjects. w  The  laughers  were  not  with  Mr. 
Ewart. 

Boden  has  sent  your  packets.  The  extracts  from  the 
pleadings  of  Linguet,  which  are  excellent  ( I  speak  of 
the  extracts ),  have  been  perfectly  successful.  I  entreat 
you  will  not  fail  to  send  me  the  continuation.  You  can- 
not find  a  better  means  of  procuring  me  customers  than 
by  things  of  this  kind. 

There  is  a  demur  concerning  Alvensleben.  It  is  Hertz- 
berg  who  supports  Goltz. 

Number  LXXVIII.  of  the  « Courier  of  the  Lower 
Rhine  w  is  so  insolent,  relative  to  the  King  of  France 
and  his  Ambassador,  that  I  imagine  it  would  be  proper 
to  make  a  formal  complaint.  This  might  somewhat  curb 
Hertzberg,  who  is  the  accomplice  of  Manson,  and  who 
may  do  us  many  other  favors  of  a  like  nature,  should 
this  pass  with  impunity.  You  are  not  aware  of  the  in- 
fluence these  gazettes  have  in  Germany. 


LETTER   XXXIII. 

MAGDEBURG,  October  pth,  1786. 

LEAVING  Berlin,  I  by  chance  discovered  the  person  who 
has  remained  four  days  shut  up  in  the  apartment 
of  the  Prince  of  Hesse  (of  Rothembourg),  who  is  no 
other  than  that  Croisy,  formerly  St.  Huberty,  and  once 
the  husband  of  our  celebrated  St.  Huberty,*  whose  mar- 
riage was  annulled,  Counselor  Bonneau  f  of  the  Prince  of 
Prussia,  and  relative  to  his  own  wife  a  bankrupt,  a  for- 
ger,—  in  a  word,  a  knight  of  industry,  of  the  most  des- 
picable order,  and  concerning  whom  all  foreigners  ask, 
tt  Is  it  possible  such  a  man  can  be  an  officer  in  the 
French  service  ?  *  I  am  no  longer  astonished  that  the 
Prince  of  Hesse  should  be  coldly  received  by  the  King. 
To  come  expressly  to  lay  the  train  to  the  mine  of  cor- 
ruption; and  to  depend  upon  it  as  a  certainty  that  the 
combustibles  should  catch  fire,  from  a  knowledge  of  the 
errors  of  the  Sovereign;  to  found  hopes  of  success  on 
the  ill  opinion  we  have  of  him,  and  in  a  manner  to  pro- 
claim this  knowledge,  by  a  rapid  journey  from  Paris  to 
Berlin,  destitute  of  all  other  pretext,  since  the  Prince  of 
Hesse  and  his  minion  have  stayed  only  five  days,  and 
are  already  gone  back  to  Paris, —  this  is  at  once  to  dis- 
play foolish  cunning  and  contemptible  conduct.  I  imag- 
ine it  is  of  importance  that  we  should  tell  the  King 
aloud,  and  with  the  strongly  marked,  ironical  tone  of 
disdain,  which  shall  make  him  feel,  without  debasing 
ourselves  to  speak  more  openly,  that  this  manoeuver  was 
totally  unknown  to  our  Cabinet;  for  I  am  persuaded, 
from  some  half-phrases  which  I  have  heard  those  who 
wish  us  ill  drop,  that  they  do  not  desire  anything  better 
than  to  fix  this  blot  upon  us. 

•The  first  singer  at  the  French  opera. 

f  Bonneau  is  a  sea  term,  in  the  French  language,  and  signifies  buoy. 
But  the  word  was  chosen  by  Voltaire,  because  it  was  an  apt  metaphor, 
as  the  name  of  a  Pandar.  From  him  it  is  here  borrowed,  and  is  sev- 
eral times  so  applied  in  this  work. 

(H3) 


144  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

I  have  traveled  through  Brandenburg  to  Magdeburg 
with  Count  Hatzfeldt,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  Elector 
of  Mayence  to  compliment  the  King  on  his  accession, 
and  Baron  Geilling,  sent  for  the  same  purpose  by  the  Due 
de  Deux-Ponts.  The  latter,  formerly  a  captain  of  hussars 
in  our  service,  is  a  handsome  blockhead,  who  could  only 
have  been  chosen  because  he  is  the  brother  of  Madame 
Eixbeck,  the  Duke's  mistress.  Count  Hatzfeldt  is  a  man 
of  great  urbanity,  and  whose  knowledge  and  understand- 
ing are  deserving  of  esteem.  It  seems  he  will  remain 
some  time  at  Berlin,  that  he  may  discover  what  shall  be 
created  out  of  the  chaos.  I  conversed  much  on  Mayence ; 
the  Elector  is  better,  but  does  not  promise  any  length  of 
life.  The  two  persons  who,  in  all  appearance,  are  most 
likely  to  succeed  him  are  Feckenberg  and  Alberg.  The 
first  is  wholly  Austrian,  the  latter  a  man  of  abilities,  of 
whom  the  highest  opinion  is  entertained,  whose  political 
inclinations  are  little  known,  and  who  dissembles,  like 
Sixtus  V.,  while  yet  a  monk. 

That  Court  at  present  seems  to  be  exceedingly  averse 
to  the  Emperor,  who  every  day,  indeed,  by  a  multitude 
of  traits,  both  private  and  public,  and  which  are  really 
inconceivable,  increases  universal  hatred.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  depict  the  effect  which  his  answer  to  the  request 
of  the  Hungarians  produced  —  (Pueri  sunt  pueri:  pueri 
puerilia  tractant)  —  together  with  the  violent  abolition  of 
all  their  privileges.  But,  on  the  one  hand,  the  great 
landholders  are  at  Vienna,  there  enchained  by  their  places, 
and  almost  kept  under  a  guard,  so  that  they  are  in  truth 
the  hostages  of  the  slavery  of  the  Hungarians;  and,  on 
the  other,  the  aristocracy  being  excessively  odious  to  the 
people,  there  is  in  this  superb  and  formidable  country 
neither  unity  of  interest,  nor  center  of  concord.  The  regu- 
lar troops  are,  besides,  posted,  and  provided  with  artillery, 
supported  by  veterans,  colonists,  etc.,  etc. 

An  Englishman,  very  much  my  friend,  and  a  man  of 
excellent  observation,  whom  I  have  happened  to  meet 
with  here,  and  who  has  visited  all  the  camps  of  the  Em- 
peror, while  speaking  in  raptures  of  those  formidable 
pillars  of  his  power,  Hungary,  Moravia,  Bohemia,  Galicia, 
etc.,  confesses  that  the  inferiority  of  his  troops,  com- 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  145 

pared  with  the  Prussian  army,  has  infinitely  surpassed  his 
expectation.  He  affirms  it  is  impossible,  either  relative 
to  the  individual  or  collective  information  of  the  officers 
or  to  the  military  talents  of  the  Emperor,  which  are  in 
reality  null,  insomuch  that  he  appears  incapable  of  conceiv- 
ing such  complicated  evolutions, — he  affirms,  I  say,  it  is  im- 
possible to  compare  the  two  nations :  with  this  difference, 
that  the  Emperor,  like  Cadmus,  can  make  men  spring  out  of 
the  earth ;  and  that  the  Prussian  army,  once  annihilated,  will 
be  incapable  of  renovation,  except  from  its  treasury.  Should 
A  MAN  once  be  seated  upon  the  Austrian  throne,  there 
will  be  an  end  to  the  liberties  of  Europe.  The  health  of 
the  Emperor  is  supposed  not  to  be  good;  his  activity 
gradually  decreases;  he  still,  however,  surpasses  his  real 
strength,  but  his  projects  seem  like  the  wishes  of  an  ex- 
piring patient  who  raves  on  recovery.  He  is  supposed  at 
present  to  be  on  very  cool  terms  with  the  Empress  of 
Russia. 

10 


LETTER     XXXIV. 

BRUNSWICK,  October  i4th,  1786. 

THOUGH  I  ride  post,  you  perceive  it  is  not  in  the  spirit 
of  dissipation.  Alas!  what  mode  of  life  in  reality 
less  corresponds  with  my  natural  inclination  than 
that  indolent  activity,  if  so  I  may  call  it,  which  hurries 
me  into  every  tumult,  and  among  the  proud  and  fas- 
tidious, to  the  utter  loss  of  time !  For  such  is  the  gen- 
eral consequence  of  the  confusion  of  society  among  the 
Germans,  who  converse  as  they  call  it  AMONG  THEMSELVES 
although  thirty  persons  should  be  present.  Thus  am  I 
robbed  of  study,  deprived  of  my  favorite  pursuits,  my 
own  thoughts,  and  forced  incessantly  to  comply  with 
forms  so  foreign,  not  to  say  odious,  to  my  nature.  You 
yourself,  who  lead  a  life  so  full  of  hurry,  but  who,  how- 
ever, associate  with  the  chosen  few,  in  despite  of  all  the 
gifts  of  nature,  you  must  feel  how  difficult  it  is  abruptly 
to  pass  from  the  buzz  of  men  to  the  meditations  of  the 
closet.  Yet  is  this  indispensably  necessary,  in  order  to 
manage  the  ASIDE  speeches,  by  which  the  current  news 
of  the  day  is  acquired  and  consequences  are  divined.  We 
must  gallop  five  days  with  the  Prince,  and  pursue  all  the 
physical  and  moral  meanderings  of  the  man,  in  public 
and  in  private,  before  we  can  obtain  the  right,  or  the  op- 
portunity, to  ask  him  a  question;  or,  which  is  better,  to 
catch  a  word,  which  may  be  equivalent  both  to  question 
and  answer. 

But  who  knows  this  better  than  you?  I  only  wish  you 
to  understand  my  excursions  are  not  the  effect  of 
chance,  and  still  less  of  whim.  Let  me  add  that  each  of 
my  journeys  improves  my  local  knowledge,  a  subject  on 
which  I  have  made  it  a  law  not  to  be  easily  satisfied.  I 
hope  that,  among  others,  you  will  perceive  by  my 
memorial  on  Saxony,  and  by  that  on  the  Prussian  States, 
which  are,  in  reality,  works  of  labor,  and  which  you  will 
(146) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  147 

not  have  a  sight  of  for  months  to  come,  that  I  have  pro- 
foundly studied  the  countries  which  I  wished  to  under- 
stand, and  as  ardently  in  men  as  in  books;  with  this 
difference,  however,  that  I  scarcely  dare  confide  in  the 
mere  assertion  of  the  best-informed  man,  unless  he 
brings  written  proofs.*  The  necessity  of  that  species  of 
superstitious  conscientiousness,  with  which  I  am  almost 
mechanically  impressed,  whenever  I  take  up  the  pen, 
has  been  demonstrated  to  my  own  mind  too  often  for  it 
ever  to  forsake  me. 

Yet  whither  am  I  traveling  in  this  painful  road?  If  I 
may  depend  on  the  few  reports  which  your  friendship 
has  deigned  to  make  me  of  the  sensation  which  my  dis- 
patches have  produced,  when  corrected,  arranged,  and 
embellished  by  you  (for  how  is  it  possible  for  me  to 
correct  that  which  I  write  at  the  moment,  by  snatches, 
with  lightning-like  rapidity,  and  without  having  time  to 
read?),  they  have  given  satisfaction.  If  I  judge  by  the 
reiterated  symptoms  of  the  extreme  inattention  which 
long  silence  supposes,  on  questions  the  most  important, 
on  requests  the  most  instantaneous,  and  sometimes  of 
absolute  forgetfulness  of  the  greatest  part  of  these 
things,  I  should  be  induced  to  believe  that  my  letters  are 
read,  at  the  most,  with  as  much  interest  as  a  packet 
would  be,  the  materials  of  which  are  tolerably  clear  and 
orderly,  and  that  the  reading  produces  not  the  least 
ultimate  effect.  Should  this  be  so,  is  it  worth  the  trouble 
(I  put  the  question  to  you,  whose  energetic  sentiments 
and  high  thoughts  so  often  escape,  notwithstanding  all 
the  contagion  of  levity,  carelessness,  egotism  and  incon- 
sistency which  exhale  out  of  every  door  in  the  country 
which  you  inhabit),  is  it  right,  I  say,  that  I  should 
sacrifice,  to  an  interest  so  subordinate  as  that  of  curiosity, 
my  inclinations,  my  talents,  my  time  and  my  powers?  I 
believe  you  know  me  to  be  no  quack,  you  know  it  is  not 
my  custom  to  speak  of  my  pains,  and  of  my  labors,  in 
fustian  terms.  Permit  me,  then,  my  good  and  dear 
friend,  to  protest  that  they  both  are  great.  I  keep  three 
men  totally  occupied  in  mechanically  copying  the  materials 
I  have  arranged.  I  am  assisted  by  the  labor  and 
*  Are  there  not,  cceteris  flaridus,  as  many  written  as  related  lies? 


i48  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

the  knowledge  of  several;  all  my  moments,  all  my 
thoughts  are  there,  thence  depart,  and  thither  return. 
Should  the  product  be  no  greater  (and  I  may  say  to  you 
that  you  cannot  yet  estimate  the  whole  product,  for  the 
greatest  of  my  labors  are  still  in  my  desk),*  it  must 
either  be  the  fault  of  my  own  incapacity  or  of  my  situ- 
ation; perhaps  of  both,  and  perhaps  also  of  the  latter 
only.  But  here  I  am  wholly,  and,  as  a  man  of  thirty- 
seven,  ought  not  to  be  wholly,  devoted  to  nullities;  for 
nullities  they  are  if  nothing  be  produced,  nothing  effected, 
either  in  behalf  of  myself  or  others. 

If,  therefore,  anything  BE  produced,  afford  me  some 
proof  of  it;  and  when,  for  example,  I  ask  any  question, 
for  the  purpose  of  more  effectually  executing  my  trust, 
let  it  be  answered.  When  I  say  it  is  necessary  I  should 
have  a  plan  of  operations  of  such  or  such  a  kind  to  pro- 
pose, because  I  shall  be  immediately  questioned  on  the 
subject,  and  shall  lose  an  opportunity  which  probably 
may  never  be  recovered  should  I  be  caught  unprovided, 
let  such  a  plan  of  operations  be  sent  me. 

If  all  this  is  to  have  any  good  effect  in  my  favor,  let 
me  be  told  so;  for  in  my  present  situation  I  have  great 
need  of  encouragement,  if  it  were  but  to  empower  me 
to  yield  without  madness  to  the  impulses  of  my  zeal.  I 
say  without  madness;  for,  to  speak  only  of  the  vilest, 
but,  notwithstanding,  the  most  palpable  of  wants,  when 
I  perceive  that  I  am  very  unable  to  make  my  accounts 
balance  with  my  present  appointments,  ought  I  not  to 
clog  the  down-hill  wheel?  And  what  have  I  to  hope  from 
these  appointments,  when  I  recollect  how  much  they  are 
in  arrear;  and  that  a  change  of  Ministry  may  increase 
my  personal  debts  with  the  sums  which  my  friends  have 
advanced  me,  for  the  service  of  those  who  cannot  be 
ignorant  I  am  myself  incapable  of  making  such  advances? 
Yet,  should  I  stop,  is  there  not  an  end  to  all  utility 
from  what  I  have  hitherto  effected?  Shall  I  then  have 
anything  remaining  except  regret  for  time  lost,  and  the 
deep,  the  rankling  affliction  of  having  attached  people  to 

*  The  author  no  doubt  refers  to  his  ^Histoire  de  la  Monarchie  prus- 
sienne.* 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  149 

my  fortunes  for  whom  I  can  do  nothing  but  what  must 
be  an  ill  compensation,  and  at  my  own  expense,  for  all 
which  they  have  done  for  me? 

Pardon  these  expansions  of  the  heart.  To  whom  may 
I  confide  my  anxieties,  if  not  to  you,  my  friend,  my 
consolation,  my  guide,  and  my  support  ?  To  whom  may 
I  say,  what  is  all  this  to  me,  since  it  does  not  produce 
me  even  money  ?  For  that  I  expend  in  the  business  I 
have  undertaken,  and  not  in  private  gratifications.  In 
truth,  I  should  be  susceptible  of  no  other,  were  the 
hoped  futurity  come,  and  I  had  no  dependents.  You 
well  know  that  money  to  me  is  nothing,  at  least  when  I 
have  any.  Where  am  I  going,  whither  leading  others  ? 
Have  I  made  a  good  bargain  by  bartering  my  life, 
stormy  as  it  was,  but  so  mingled  with  enjoyments  of 
which  it  was  not  in  human  power  to  deprive  me,  for  a 
sterile  activity,  which  snatches  me  even  from  the  fre- 
quent and  delightful  effusions  of  your  friendship  ?  You 
are  to  me  but  a  statesman;  you,  for  the  pressure  of 
whose  hand  I  would  relinquish  all  the  thrones  on  earth. 
Alas,  I  am  much  better  formed  for  friendship  than  for 
politics. 

Post  Scriptum,  began  at  Helmstadt,  and  finished  at 
Brunswick,  October  i4th,  1786. 

They  write  from  Silberberg,  in  Silesia,  that  the  King's 
carriage  has  been  overturned,  and  that  he  has  received 
contusions  on  the  head  and  on  the  arm.  The  coachman, 
it  is  added,  expired  on  the  place.  The  news  reached  me 
yesterday,  at  Magdeburg,  and  the  same  has  been  writ- 
ten to  General  Prittwitz;  it  probably  exceeds  the  truth, 
but  is  not  wholly  without  foundation.  The  extreme 
agitation  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  and  my  own  emo- 
tions, made  me  profoundly  feel  the  fortunes  that  rest  on 
this  Monarch's  head.  The  Duke  immediately  sent  off  a 
courier,  and,  as  I  shall  follow  him  to  Brunswick,  where 
he  wishes  to  speak  to  me  at  large  concerning  Holland, 
I  shall  learn  more  circumstantial  intelligence,  and  such 
as  will  be  indubitable.  I  have  not  time  to  add  a  single 
word;  I  write  while  the  horses  are  changed. 


150  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

From  Brunswick,  October  i4th,   1786. 

Not  having  found  an  opportunity  of  sending  off  these 
few  lines,  I  continue. 

I  arrived  here  two  hours  before  the  Duke.  As  soon 
as  he  came  to  Brunswick,  he  wrote  to  me  with  a  pencil, 
on  a  slip  of  paper: 

(<  I  spoke  yesterday  evening,  before  I  departed,  with 
the  Minister  Count  Schulemberg,  who  had  left  Berlin  on 
the  eleventh.  He  is  in  absolute  ignorance  of  the  alarm- 
ing intelligence  by  which  we  were  so  much  affected,  and, 
as  I  have  heard  nothing  on  the  subject  since,  I  begin 
to  have  better  hopes.  I  expect  my  courier  will  arrive 
early  in  the  morning.  I  write  you  this,  Monsieur  le 
Comte,  from  my  mother's,  and  I  hope  you  will  do  me 
the  favor  to  come  to  me  early  to-morrow  morning  and 
dine  with  us.* 

It  appears  to  be  very  probable  that  no  material  harm 
has  happened  to  the  Sovereign. 

The  splendor  of  the  talents  and  urbanity  of  the  Duke 
appeared  perfect  at  Magdeburg.  Nothing  could  be  more 
awful  than  his  manoeuvers,  nothing  so  instructive  as  his 
school,  nothing  so  finished,  so  connected,  so  perfect,  as 
his  conduct  in  every  respect.  He  was  the  subject  of  ad- 
miration to  a  great  number  of  foreigners,  who  had 
crowded  to  Magdeburg,  and  he  certainly  stood  in  no 
need  of  the  contrast  which  the  Duke  of  Weimar  and  the 
Prince  of  Dessau  afforded,  the  latter  the  weakest  of  men, 
the  former  industriously  laboring  to  be  something,  but 
ill-provided  with  requisites,  if  we  are  to  judge  him  by 
appearances.  He  might  and  ought  to  become  a  Prince 
of  importance.  According  to  all  probabilities,  however, 
Saxony  will  devolve  on  him  for  want  of  children  in  the 
Electoral  branch,  and  it  is  an  afflicting  perspective  to 
contemplate  the  destruction  of  all  the  labors  of  the  worthy 
Prince  who  at  present  governs  the  country,  and  who, 
tormented  in  his  childhood,  unhappy  in  youth,  and  truly 
respectable  in  manhood,  will,  perhaps,  descend  to  the 
tomb  with  the  bitter  affliction  of  feeling  that  all  the 
good  he  has  done  will  be  rendered  ineffectual. 

I  have  learned  a  fact,  which  will  afford  some  pleasure 
to  M.  de  Segur,  if  he  be  still  living.  A  foundry  has 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  151 

been  built  at  Hanover,  at  a  great  expense,  which  has  cost 
the  King  of  England  near  one  hundred  thousand  livres. 
The  Duke  of  Brunswick,  not  being  satisfied  with  his  own 
foundry,  had  two  cannons  cast  at  Hanover,  and  they 
were  so  ill-cast  that  they  were  soon  obliged  to  be  laid 
aside.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  when  we  recollect  the 
connections  between  the  Duke  and  the  King  of  England, 
that  this  was  occasioned  by  any  trick  in  the  founders; 
the  fact,  therefore,  is  a  proof  that  they  are  bad  work- 
men. 

By  the  next  courier  I  hope  to  send  you  the  exact  result 
of  the  dispositions  of  Berlin,  and  the  Duke,  relative  to 
Holland.  He  has  promised  me  a  precise  statement  of 
the  propositions  which  appear  to  him  necessary,  and  he 
did  not  conceal  the  extreme  desire  he  had  that  they 
should  be  accepted  by  France.  These  Dutch  disturbances 
daily  present  a  more  threatening  aspect  for  the  repose 
of  Europe  —  if  not  at  the  present  moment,  at  least  from 
future  contingencies,  and  the  coolness  and  distrust  to 
which  they  will  give  rise. 


LETTER    XXXV. 

BRUNSWICK,   October  i6th,   1786. 

THE  two  conversations  I  have  had  with  the  Duke  have 
hitherto  been  but  vague  respecting  Holland,  and 

indeed  almost  foreign  to  the  subject.  His  courier, 
having  brought  him  the  news  of  hopes  of  an  accommo- 
dation, and  of  the  retreat  of  the  person  who  of  all  those 
concerned  with  M.  de  Veyrac  was  supposed  to  be  the 
chief  firebrand,  having,  in  fine,  brought  him  details 
which  led  him  to  imagine  that  his  interference  will  not 
be  necessary,  or  not  yet  wanted  in  Holland,  he  passed 
rapidly  over  the  country  to  come  to  one  which  is  of  in- 
finitely greater  importance  to  him ;  I  mean  to  say  Prussia. 
He  only  discovered  himself  to  be  greatly  averse  to  the 
party  of  the  Stadtholder,  and  well  convinced  that  the 
right  of  presentation  ought  to  remain  such  as  it  was  in 
its  origin;  that  the  constitution  of  Gueldres,  Frieseland, 
and  Utrecht  evidently  was  in  want  of  reformation,  with 
respect  to  the  inconceivable  regulation  of  the  magistrates, 
who  are  revocable  ad  nutum;  that,  in  a  word,  the  Prince, 
who  from  absolute  monarchical  authority,  which  he  in 
reality  possessed,  was  sunken  into  absolute  discredit,  by 
conduct  the  most  abject,  and  the  folly  of  having  claimed 
that  as  a  right,  in  contempt  of  all  law,  all  decency,  and 
all  popular  prejudice,  which  he  effectually  possessed,  was 
not  deserving  of  the  least  support;  but  that,  from  re- 
spect to  Prussia,  and  particularly  to  retard  commotions, 
it  was  requisite  to  restore  him  the  decorum  of  pageantry, 
—  except  that  watch  should  be  kept  over  his  connec- 
tions. And  here  he  explained  himself  on  the  subject  of 
Harris,  and  even  concerning  Prince  Louis  of  Brunswick, 
nearly  in  the  manner  I  should  have  done  myself.  In 
conclusion,  however,  he  not  only  did  not  inform  me  of 
anything  on  the  subject,  but  he  imperceptibly  declined 
that  debate  which  a  few  days  before  he  had  provoked. 

(152) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  153 

I  repeat,  there  is  some  news  arrived  of  which  I  am 
ignorant,  that  has  occasioned  this  change  in  his  proceed- 
ings. My  information  is  in  general  much  too  confined. 
Thus,  for  example,  it  is  very  singular,  nor  is  it  less 
embarrassing,  and  to  speak  plainly,  it  is  tolerably  ridicu- 
lous, that  it  should  be  the  Duke  who  should  inform  me 
of  the  treaty  of  commerce  signed  between  France  and 
England,  not  one  of  the  articles  of  which  I  am  acquainted 
with,  and  on  which  occasion  I  knew  not  what  face  to 
wear.  As  my  usual  method  is  not  to  conceal  myself 
behind  any  veil  of  mystery,  which  hides  the  insignificance 
of  certain  Ambassadors,  the  part  I  had  to  act  was  not  a 
little  difficult.  I  should  learn  a  thousand  times  more 
were  I  myself  better  informed.  In  this,  as  in  everything 
else,  fortune  follows  the  successful. 

Returning  to  Prussia,  it  was  quite  a  different  affair, 
for  of  this  I  know  as  much  as  the  Duke.  His  confidence 
was  the  less  limited,  and  the  more  profuse,  because  I 
presently  set  him  at  his  ease  with  respect  to  Prince 
Henry,  whom  he  neither  loves  nor  esteems.  I  perceived 
with  inquietude  that  his  opinions  and  fears  are  similar 
to  my  own.  He  is  dissatisfied  with  most  of  the  proceed- 
ings and  public  acts  of  the  King,  with  that  crowd  of 
titles,  and  that  mass  of  nobility,  which  has  been  added 
so  prodigally;  insomuch  that  it  will  be  henceforward 
much  more  difficult  to  find  a  man  than  a  nobleman  in 
the  Prussian  States;  with  the  promise  made  to  the  Prince 
of  Dessau  (whose  only  merit  is  such  an  excess  of  en- 
thusiasm for  mysticism  and  visionaries  that,  when  Lavater 
came  to  Bremen,  he  addressed  the  most  earnest  suppli- 
cations to  him  to  come  and  pay  him  a  visit,  in  order 
that  he  might  adore  him),  and  perhaps  with  that  given 
to  the  Duke  of  Weimar  (who  to  the  same  inclinations, 
and  more  lively  passions,  adds  greater  understanding; 
but  who  is  too  much  in  debt  for  his  military  projects 
to  be  otherwise  regarded  than  as  a  money  speculation), 
to  restore  the  one  and  to  admit  the  other  into  the  Prus- 
sian service ;  by  which  rank  in  the  army  will  be  violated, 
and  the  army  discouraged  and  vitiated, — a  system  very 
opposite  to  that  of  Frederick  II.,  who  said  of  the  few 
grandees  who  were  employed  in  his  time,  "In  the  name 


154  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

of  God,  my  dear  Moellendorf,  rid  me  of  THESE  PRINCES.* 
The  Duke  is  equally  dissatisfied  with  that  fluctuation 
which  occasions  essays  to  be  made  on  twenty  systems  at 
once ;  with  the  most  of  the  persons  chosen ;  with  domestic 
disorder;  with  nocturnal  rites,  and  with  the  anecdotes  the 
augury  of  which  from  day  to  day  becomes  more  inaus- 
piciously  characteristic,  etc.,  etc.  In  a  word,  should  1 
transcribe  our  conversation,  I  should  but  send  new  copies 
of  old  dispatches. 

<(  Believe  me, "  said  he,  (<  I  may,  in  a  certain  degree, 
serve  you  as  a  thermometer,  for  if  I  perceive  there  are 
no  hopes  of  a  firm  and  noble  regimen,  and  that  therefore 
the  day  of  the  House  of  Brandenburg  is  come,  I  shall 
not  be  the  last  to  sound  a  retreat.  I  never  received 
money  from  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  1  am  well  deter- 
mined never  to  accept  anything  from  him,  though  I  mean 
to  remain  in  the  service.  It  has,  as  you  have  seen,  been 
a  dear  service  to  me.  I  am  independent.  I  wish  to  pay 
a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  great  man 
who  is  no  more,  and  am  ready  to  shed  my  blood,  if  that 
might  cement  his  work ;  but  I  will  not,  even  by  my  pres- 
ence, become  the  accomplice  of  its  demolition.  Our 
debts  never  exceed  our  abilities.  I  shall  provide  in  the 
best  manner  in  my  power  for  my  country  and  my  chil- 
dren; these  I  shall  leave  in  great  order.  I  keep  up  my 
family  connections.  We  perhaps  shall  be  the  last  who 
will  be  smitten  by  the  overthrow  of  the  Germanic  body, 
because  of  the  confraternity  which  unites  us  to  the  Elec- 
tor of  Hanover.  I,  therefore,  shall  no  further  follow  the 
destiny  of  the  Prussian  monarchy  than  as  its  Govern- 
ment shall  maintain  its  wisdom,  its  dignity,  etc.,  etc.w 

At  present  the  Duke  despairs  of  nothing;  and  in  this 
he  is  right.  He  supposes  that  no  person  has  yet  found 
his  proper  place.  I  think  like  him,  and  I  perceive  he 
hopes  his  turn  will  come;  of  this  neither  can  I  doubt, 
unless  the  annihilation  of  the  Prussian  power  has  been 
decreed  by  fate. 

He  has  informed  me  of  the  very  singular  fact  that  M. 
de  Custine,  the  father,  has  demanded  to  be  admitted  into 
the  service  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  has  pretended  to 
disclose  all  the  hostile  plans  of  the  Emperor,  whose 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  155 

alliance,  nevertheless,  this  same  M.  de  Custine  loudly  af- 
firms will  terminate,  with  France,  the  day  that  Prince 
Kaunitz  dies. 

The  Duke  is  very  far  from  being  relieved  of  all  his 
fears  concerning-  the  projects  of  the  Emperor,  whose 
puissance  and  advisers  he  holds  in  infinite  dread.  True 
it  is  that  his  inconsistency  should  render  his  designs  and 
the  execution  of  them  abortive;  that  the  irrationality  of 
his  personal  conduct  should  hasten  his  end;  that  the 
Archduke  Francis  appears  to  be  a  cipher;  that  among 
the  persons  who  have  influence  there  is  not  one  for- 
midable man,  especially  in  the  army;  and  that  Alventzy 
and  Kinsky,  the  one  manufacturer  for  the  infantry,  and 
the  other  for  the  cavalry,  possess  only  ambiguous  abil- 
ities, etc.  But  men  start  up  at  the  moment  when  they 
are  least  expected;  accident  only  is  necessary  to  rank 
them  in  their  proper  place.  Conde",  Spinola,  and  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick  himself,  prove  that  it  is  possible  to 
be  born  a  general.  There  is  a  Prince  of  Waldeck  in  the 
Austrian  army,  who,  it  is  said,  announces  grand  tal- 
ents. 

The  numerous,  trifling  anecdotes,  which  the  Duke  and 
I  have  mutually  related  to  each  other,  would  be  too 
tedious  for  insertion,  and  out  of  their  place  also  here. 
An  anecdote,  merely  as  such,  is  equally  devoid  of  pro- 
priety and  information;  such  will  have  their  turn  here- 
after; but  there  is  one  which  relates  too  much  to  the 
Russian  system  for  it  to  be  passed  over  in  silence. 

The  Czarina  has,  for  some  months  past,  appropriated 
to  herself  the  possession  and  the  revenues  of  the  posts 
of  Courland,  leaving  a  small  part  only  to  the  Duke,  in 
order  that  this  branch  of  administration  might  not  ap- 
pear to  be  wholly  in  the  hands  of  foreigners.  Thus  does 
this  same  Russia,  that  maintains  an  envoy  at  Courland, 
although  there  is  none  at  Courland  from  Petersburg,  and 
that  here,  as  in  Poland,  proclaims  her  will  to  the  Duke 
and  to  the  States,  by  her  Ambassador,  who  is  the  real 
Sovereign  of  the  country, —  this  Russia,  that  for  some 
years  past,  has  unequivocally  and  openly  declared  that  a 
certain  canton  of  Courland  appertained  to  her,  and  with- 
out seeking  any  other  pretext  than  that  of  giving  a  more 


156  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

uniform  line  to  her  limits,  makes  no  secret  of  not  un- 
derstanding any  other  code,  any  other  claims,  any  other 
manifestoes,  than  those  which  the  Gauls  alleged  to  the 
Etruscans  — "  Our  right  exists  in  our  arms.  Whatever 
the  strong  can  seize  upon  that  is  the  right  of  the  strong.  * 
She  will  one  of  these  days  declare  Courland  is  hers,  that 
the  Polish  Ukraine  is  hers,  and  that  Finland  is  hers. 
And,  for  example,  this  latter  revolution,  which  will  be  a 
very  salutary  one  to  her  because  she  will  then  truly  be- 
come unattackable,  and  almost  inaccessible,  to  all  Europe 
united,  will  be  effected,  whenever  she  shall  make  the 
attempt,  if  we  do  not  take  good  heed.  Whenever  the 
time  may  come  that  I  shall  be  informed  of  this  having 
taken  place,  and  even  of  the  new  system  of  Sweden 
being  totally  overthrown,  I  shall  not  feel  any  surprise. 

The  Duke  also  told  me  that  the  Emperor  is  greatly 
improving  his  artillery;  that  his  six-pounders  are  equiv- 
alent in  force  to  our  former  eight-pounders;  and  to  this 
advantage  they  add  that  of  lightness,  in  so  great  a  degree, 
that  only  four  horses  are  necessary  to  draw  them,  while 
even  in  Prussia  six  are  still  requisite.  As  well  as  I 
remember  he  attributes  this  double  improvement  to  the 
CONICAL*  construction  of  the  chamber.  I  only  relate  this 
that  you  may  verify  the  truth  of  the  fact  by  people  who 
are  acquainted  with  such  affairs;  the  diminution  of  two 
horses  in  eight  being  a  thing  of  infinite  importance,  and 
the  more  so  as  there  would  be  a  servant  the  less. 

The  manner  in  which  I  have  been  received  by  the 
Duke  was  infinitely  friendly  on  his  part,  though  some- 
what participating,  as  far  as  relates  to  freedom  of  con- 
versation, of  my  equivocal  mode  of  existence  at  Berlin.  I 
believe  I  may,  without  presumption,  affirm  I  am  not 
disagreeable  to  this  Prince,  and  that,  were  I  accredited 
by  any  commission  whatever,  I  should  be  one  of  most 
proper  persons  to  treat  with  him  with  efficacy.  This 
able  man  appears  to  me  to  have  but  one  weakness, 
which  is  the  prodigious  dread  of  having  his  reputation 
injured,  even  by  the  most  contemptible  Zoilus.  Yet  has 
he  lately  exposed  himself  to  vexatious  blame  in  deference 
to  his  first  Minister,  M.  von  Feronce,  which  I  cannot 

*  Faite  en  poire  (made  in  the  form  of  a  pear). 


THE   COURT    OF   BERLIN  157 

comprehend.  This  M.  von  Feronce,  and  M.  von  Mun- 
chausen,  Grand  Master  of  the  Court,  a  man  who  is 
reported  to  have  little  delicacy  concerning  money  matters, 
have  farmed  the  lottery, —  an  action  shameful  in  itself, 
and  which  I  cannot  reconcile  to  Von  Feronce,  who  is 
really  a  man  of  merit.  Two  merchants,  named  Oeltz  and 
Nothnagel,  have  gained  a  quaterne,  which  is  equivalent 
to  the  sum  of  eighteen  thousand  crowns.  The  payment 
of  this  has  not  only  been  refused,  but  as  it  was  neces- 
sary to  act  with  fraud  to  effect  their  purpose,  the  mer- 
chants have  undergone  numerous  oppressions;  they  have 
even  been  imprisoned;  all  which  acts  they  have  lately 
published  in  a  printed  case,  which  contains  nothing  but 
the  facts  concerning  the  suit,  and  have  laid  an  appeal 
against  the  Duke,  or  against  his  judges,  before  the 
tribunal  of  Wetzlar;  I  own  I  do  not  understand  this 
absence  of  firmness,  or  of  circumspection. 

October  xyth,  1786. 

POSTSCRIPT. —  I  have  just  received  authentic  intelli- 
gence concerning  the  King  of  Prussia.  It  was  one  of 
his  chasseurs  to  whom  a  very  serious  accident  happened ; 
the  Monarch  himself  is  in  good  health,  and  will  arrive 
on  the  eighteenth  or  the  nineteenth  at  Berlin. 

I  learn,  at  the  same  time,  that  Count  Finckenstein  is 
dying  of  an  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  with  which  he 
was  seized  after  a  very  warm  altercation  with  Count 
Hertzberg,  on  the  subject  of  Holland.  His  life  is  de- 
spaired of,  and  his  loss  to  us  will  be  very  great;  as  well 
because  he  was  absolutely  ours,  as  because  that,  being  a 
temporizer  by  nature,  he  would  have  acted  as  the  moder- 
ator of  Prince  Henry.  He  would  also  have  directed  the 
conduct  of  Mademoiselle  Voss,  after  the  fall  of  virtue; 
and  finally  because  Hertzberg  will  no  longer  have  any 
counterpoise.  With  respect  to  the  latter  point,  however, 
I  am  not  averse  to  suppose  that  the  time  when  this 
presumptuous  man  shall  be  in  absolute  discredit  may 
but  be  the  more  quickly  accelerated.  Yet,  not  to  men- 
tion the  sterility  of  subjects  by  which  this  epoch  may  be 
retarded,  who  shall  answer  that  a  man  so  violent,  and 
wholly  imbued  as  he  is  with  the  hatred  which  the  Ger- 


158  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

mans   in    general    bear   the    French,  will   not  venture  to 
make  some  very  decisive  false  steps  ? 

The  Duke  of  York  arrived  here  this  evening,  and  had 
he  been  the  Emperor  he  could  not  have  been  treated 
with  more  respect,  especially  by  the  Duchess  and  the 
courtiers.  She,  indeed,  is  wholly  English,  as  well  in  her 
inclinations  and  her  principles  as  in  her  manners;  inso- 
much that  her  almost  cynical  independence,  opposed  to 
the  etiquette  of  the  Courts  of  German  Princes,  forms 
the  most  singular  contrast  I  know.  I  do  not,  however, 
believe  that  there  is  any  question  concerning  the  mar- 
riage of  the  Princess  Caroline,  who  is  a  most  amiable, 
lively,  playful,  witty,  and  handsome  lady;  the  Duke  of 
York,  a  puissant  hunter,  a  potent  drinker,  an  indefati- 
gable laugher,  destitute  of  breeding  and  politeness, 
and  who  possesses,  at  least  in  appearance,  much  of  the 
Duke  de  Lauzun,  as  well  in  mind  as  in  person,  is  in- 
spired with  a  kind  of  passion  for  a  woman  married  to  a 
jealous  husband,  who  torments  him,  and  will  not  suffer 
him  to  fix  his  quarters.  I  know  not  whether  he  will  go 
to  Berlin.  The  versions  relative  to  him  are  various. 
Some  affirm  that,  after  having  been  an  unbridled  liber- 
tine, he  feels  a  returning  desire  of  doing  his  duty.  For 
my  own  part,  I  find  in  him  all  the  stiffness  of  a  German 
Prince,  with  a  double  dose  of  English  insolence,  but 
wanting  the  free  cordiality  of  that  nation. 


LETTER   XXXVI. 

BRUNSWICK,  October  27th,  1786. 

I  HERE  send  you  the  continuation  and  conclusion  of  the 
preceding  dispatch,  to  which  I  add  the  translation  of 
a  pamphlet,  the  singularity  of  which  is  increased  by 
its  having  appeared  at  Vienna,  with  the  permission  of  the 
Emperor ;  who,  to  the  communication  made  by  the  censor, 
has  added  these  very  words,  <(  Let  this  pass  among 
others. w 

This  is  but  a  trifle  compared  to  that  caprice  which 
three  days  afterwards  induced  him  to  release  the  un- 
fortunate Szekely,  whom  the  most  powerful  remonstrances 
could  not  save,  and  whose  cause  is  here  *  ill  enough  de- 
fended. For  what  conclusions  might  he  not  have  drawn 
from  the  confidence  with  which  he  imparted  to  the 
Emperor  the  situation  of  his  accounts,  from  the  disorder 
by  which  they  had  been  brought  into  this  state,  from 
the  ardent  supplications  he  made  him  to  purchase  for  the 
public  a  well-tried  chemical  secret  at  such  a  price  as 
would  have  completed  the  deficiency  in  his  accounts  ( I 
say  completed,  for  Szekely  and  his  family  had  paid  the 
greatest  part  of  the  deficiencies),  and  from  the  answer 
of  the  Emperor  himself, — <(  Do  you  address  yourself  to 
me  as  to  a  friend,  or  as  to  the  Emperor?  If  to  the 
former,  I  cannot  be  the  friend  of  a  man  who  has  not 
been  faithful  to  his  trust.  If  as  Emperor,  I  would  ad- 
vise you  to  go  in  person  and  make  your  declaration  to 
the  Courts  of  Justice.8 

This  fact,  which  I  have  learned  since  my  arrival  at 
Berlin,  attended  with  most  aggravating  circumstances,  is 
one  of  the  most  odious  I  can  recollect,  yet  might  I  re- 
late fifty  of  the  same  species. 

*By  the  word  HERE,  the  author  means  in  the  pamphlet,  to  which 
the  reader  will  immediately  come. 

(159) 


i6o  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

Free  Observations  on  the  Crime  and  Punishment  of  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel SZEKELY,  of  the  Guards,  by  a  Friend  of 
Truth,  1786. 

LET  the  voice  of  Truth  be  heard,  let  her  at  present  be 
seen  without  disguise,  without  veil,  in  all  her  awful 
nakedness.  Hear,  ye  incorrupt*  judges.  I  am  about  to 
speak  of  the  crime  and  punishment  of  Szekely.  My 
heart  melts,  but  my  words  shall  be  impartial.  Hear  and 
pronounce  sentence  on  me,  on  Szekely,  and  on  those 
who  pronounced  sentence  on  him. 

Szekely  announces  a  deficiency  in  the  regimental  chest 
of  the  guards,  and  the  disorder  of  his  accounts;  and 
after  some  pretended  examinations  is  brought  before  the 
Council  of  War.  Ninety-seven  thousand  florins  of  the 
Empire  have  disappeared;  but  Szekely  had  placed  his 
whole  confidence  in  the  Sieur  Lakner,  who  is  deceased, 
and  who  was  the  only  keeper  of  the  keys  of  the  chest. 
Szekely  had  more  than  once  declared  that  he  himself 
was  a  very  improper  person  to  have  pecuniary  matters 
committed  to  his  charge,  and  that  he  never  had  revised 
nor  verified  the  accounts  of  the  regimental  chest  con- 
fided to  his  care.  He  therefore  cannot  be  suspected  of 
personal  fraud,  especially  when  his  regiment  renders  just- 
ice to  the  goodness  of  his  manners,  and  unanimously 
points  out  the  cashier  Lakner  as  a  person  who  was  debased 
by  meanness,  and  rendered  suspicious  by  incurring  ex- 
penses infinitely  above  his  fortune. 

This,  it  is  very  true,  was  an  exceedingly  culpable  neg- 
ligence, but  such  was  the  only  crime  of  Szekely;  and  it 
was  for  this  reason  that  the  Council  of  War  condemned 
him  to  be  imprisoned  six  years  in  a  fortress.  The  punish- 
ment was  doubtless  in  itself  sufficient,  since  Szekely,  in 

*  From  the  life  of  Baron  Trenck,  from  the  present  fact,  and  from 
numerous  others,  it  appears  that  the  appeal  and  the  apostrophe  are 
absurd.  Trenck  informs  us  that  his  judges,  after  having  held  their 
offices  for  a  succession  of  years,  were  at  last  condemned  to  be  common 
scavengers  of  Vienna.  The  picture  he  gives  of  their  intrigues,  their 
corruption,  and  their  vices,  is  beyond  conception  horrible.  How  can 
man  dare  to  vaunt  of  the  wisdom  of  the  age,  which  has  not  yet  dis- 
covered that  justice,  in  its  most  extensive  sense,  is  the  most  neces- 
sary, as  well  as  the  sublimest,  attribute  of  man. 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  161 

effect,  and  according  to  the  language  of  the  civilians, 
was  Nee  confessus  nee  convictus  of  any  prevarication ;  yet  was 
it  aggravated  by  the  Aulic*  Council  of  War,  which  was 
commanded  to  make  a  revision  of  the  process,  and  which 
increased  his  detention  to  a  duration  of  eight  years.  Was 
this  tribunal  ignorant,  then,  that  it  is  a  custom  with  our 
MOST  GRACIOUS  Monarch  himself  to  increase  the  severity 
of  all  sentences  pronounced  against  criminals  ?  Let  us, 
therefore,  believe  that  the  judges,  on  this  occasion,  were 
only  obedient  to  the  rigor  of  the  laws;  but  the  after 
decision  of  the  Emperor  will  most  assuredly  appear  in- 
conceivable. The  following  is  the  judgment  which  this 
Monarch  uttered — Yes!  uttered,  yet  did  not  blush: 

(<  Szekely  must,  without  hesitation,  be  broken,  declared 
incapable  of  military  service,  and  delivered  over  to  the 
civil  officer,  who  shall  convey  him  to  the  place  where  the 
crime  was  committed  in  Vienna,  where  he  shall  stand  in 
the  pillory  for  three  successive  days,  and  remain  two 
hours  each  day  on  a  scaffold,  in  the  high  market  place, 
that  his  example  may  be  of  public  utility.  As  a  favor 
and  in  consequence  of  his  age,  I  limit  the  eight  years' 
imprisonment  to  which  he  is  condemned  to  four,  during 
which  he  shall  be  confined  at  Segedin,  a  penal  prison  of 
the  civil  power  of  the  Hungarian  States,  where  he  shall 
receive  the  same  allowance  for  food  as  is  granted  to 
other  criminals.  * 

The  Court  of  Justice  made  remonstrances  to  the  Em- 
peror, in  which  it  proved  that  the  punishment  was  much 
too  severe,  and  entirely  contrary  to  law  and  to  equity; 
but  the  Emperor  continued  inflexible,  and  thus  confirmed 
his  sentence: 

"All  superintendents  of  military  chests  might,  like 
Szekely,  plead  that  they  knew  not  what  was  become  of 
the  money,  even  though  it  should  have  been  stolen  by 
themselves.  Whenever  there  is  a  deficiency  in  any 
chest,  and  especially  of  a  sum  so  considerable  as  ninety- 
seven  thousand  florins,  there  is  no  necessity  for  the 
judge  to  prove  that  the  money  has  been  taken  by  the 
accused  person,  but  the  accused  person  must  show  that 

*  We  cannot  find  a  better  parallel  to  this  AULIC  Council  than  the  for- 
merly infamous  Court  of  Star  Chamber. 
ii 


162  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

it  has  not  been  taken  by  him;  and  whenever  he  cannot 
demonstrate  this  he  himself  is  the  thief.  As  soon  as 
Szekely  shall  have  been  broken,  and  shall  be  no  longer 
an  officer,  the  sentence  against  him  shall  be  put  in  exe- 
cution, and  a  paper  shall  be  fixed  round  his  neck  on 
which  shall  be  written  —  AN  UNFAITHFUL  STEWARD.* 

Let  us  take  an  attentive  retrospect  of  these  supreme 
decisions. 

Szekely  is  punishable  for  having  been  exceedingly  neg- 
ligent; he  is  the  same  for  having  bestowed  his  whole 
confidence  on  a  dishonest  cashier,  of  whose  pompous 
luxury  he  could  not  be  ignorant,  since  it  gave  offense  to 
the  whole  corps  of  the  guards.  It  was  easy  to  conclude 
that  such  a  man  could  not  live  at  an  expense  so  great 
on  his  paternal  income.  It  is  even  probable  that  Szekely 
himself,  perceiving  the  disorder  of  his  accounts,  and  the 
deficiency  in  his  chest,  and  terrified  by  the  infamy  and 
punishment  inflicted  on  such  crimes,  sacrificed  much  to 
alchemy  and  the  occult  sciences,  in  the  hope  of  making 
gold,  and  of  thus  freeing  himself  from  his  embarrass- 
ments. This,  no  doubt,  was  a  folly  at  which  all  men  of 
sense  would  grieve;  it  is  not,  however,  the  less  possible. 
It  is  certain  that  the  love  of  chemistry  was  the  ruling 
passion  of  Szekely,  and  that  he  indulged  his  inclinations 
the  more  because  he  expected  sometime  thus  to  recover 
his  losses.  To  this  excuse  let  us  add  the  extreme  igno- 
rance of  which  he  accused  himself  in  all  that  related  to 
pecuniary  affairs. 

True  it  is  that,  with  such  a  conviction  of  his  own  in- 
capacity, he  never  ought  to  have  taken  charge  of  a  regi- 
mental chest;  but  were  all  those  who  are  in  possession 
of  places,  the  duties  of  which  are  far  beyond  their  abil- 
ities, obliged  to  abdicate  them,  what  vast  deserts  would 
our  public  offices  afford!  Rabner  encourages  three  dif- 
ferent species  of  men,*  by  saying,  *  On  whom  God  be- 
stows an  office  he  also  bestows  a  sufficient  degree  of 
understanding  for  the  exercise  of  that  office."  Szekely 
would  not  indubitably  have  adopted  this  opinion,  could 
he  have  foreseen  the  evil  consequences  of  his  presumption. 

*  I  know  not  why  three  different  species,  or  what  three ;  I  can  but 
follow  my  author. 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  163 

Was  not  that  flattering  letter  which  was  addressed  to 
him  by  Maria  Theresa,  of  glorious  memory,  in  which, 
while  she  gave  the  highest  praises  to  his  probity  and 
loyalty,  this  august  Sovereign  confided  to  his  care, 
without  any  caution,  the  regimental  chest  of  the  guards, 
an  authentic  testimony  in  behalf  of  his  honor?  Has  it 
been  meant  by  the  forgetfulness  of  this  distinction  to 
add  a  new  outrage  to  all  the  ingratitudes  with  which 
some  have  sullied  themselves,  relative  to  this  immortal 
Empress?  Was  it  intended  to  tax  her  with  that  levity, 
that  silly  credulity,  which  blind  confidence  produces? 
Alas!  in  despite  of  all  the  defects  which  envy  so  gra- 
tuitously imputes  to  her,  Maria  Theresa  never  was  sur- 
rounded by  such  an  army  of  knaves  as  those  from  whom 
all  the  rigor  of  the  present  Sovereign  cannot  preserve  us. 
So  true  is  it  that  gentleness  and  love,  from  a  Prince  to- 
ward his  subjects,  are  more  efficacious  means,  to  preserve 
them  within  the  bounds  of  duty,  than  all  the  violent  acts 
tyranny  can  commit. 

I  return  to  Szekely  and  affirm  it  is  impossible  that  this 
letter  from  the  Empress  Queen,  though  in  some  sort  the 
pledge  of  the  fidelity  of  Szekely,  can  serve  as  an  excuse 
to  the  Prince  of  Esterhazy,  whose  personal  negligence 
cannot  be  justified.  Did  not  his  right,  as  chief  of  the 
guards,  impose  it  on  him  as  a  law  to  examine  the  regi- 
mental chest  of  Szekely?  And  is  not  such  an  infraction 
of  the  duties  of  his  place  most  reprehensible? 

Still  less  can  be  offered  in  defense  of  the  fault  com- 
mitted by  the  Hungaro-Transylvanian  Chancery;  since 
according  to  its  instructions,  it  was  in  like  manner  bound 
to  inspect  the  administration  of  Szekely.  But  none  of 
the  acts  of  this  superior  Court  ought  to  inspire  astonish- 
ment, since  it  is  no  longer  distinguished,  except  by  dis- 
order and  ill  faith;  since  its  responsibility  is  no  longer 
anything  but  a  word;  and  since  its  ideas  of  exact  calcu- 
lation, and  of  receipt  and  expense,  are  exactly  as  just  as 
those  of  Brambille*  are  on  physic. 

*This  Brambille  is  first  surgeon  to  the  Emperor,  by  whom  he  has 
been  ennobled,  and  who  has  made  him  inspector  of  the  medical  and 
chirurgical  academies.  He  is  said  to  be  an  ignorant  quack,  and  a  vio- 
lent satire  has  lately  been  written  against  him,  which,  if  report  speaks 


164  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

Judges,  ye  have  condemned  Szekely.  Be  it  so.  Act 
worthy  of  your  office.  Punish  his  superintendents  also, 
who  have  by  a  non-performance  of  their  duty  placed 
him  on  the  brink  of  that  abyss  into  which  you  headlong 
plunged  him,  without  humanity,  and  void  of  shame. 

The  Kings  of  Europe  have  all  reserved  to  themselves 
the  most  benevolent  of  prerogatives;  that  of  pardoning 
the  guilty,  or  of  softening  the  pains  the  sentence  inflicts 
by  which  they  are  condemned.  Joseph  alone  persists  in 
other  principles,  more  conformable  to  the  feelings  of  his 
heart.  He  aggravates  the  punishment  of  the  wretched. 
Alas!  this  no  doubt  is  but  to  enjoy  the  ecstatic  pleasure 
of  terrifying  his  people,  by  the  exercise  of  the  most 
unlimited  despotism.  Unfortunate  Szekely!  Ill-starred 
man!  I  pity  thee.  Thou  fallest  a  victim  to  the  splen- 
etic temper  of  the  Monarch!  Perhaps,  at  the  very 
instant  when  he  pronounced  thy  doom,  a  troublesome  fly 
stung  his  brow,  and  thy  dishonor  was  his  vengeance. 
Deplorable  sacrifice  of  a  tyrannical  and  barbarous  heart, 
yes,  I  pity  thee!  Men  of  worth,  men  of  justice,  what 
must  the  Monarch  be  who  can  ADD  to  the  rigor  of  the 
Judge?  —  A  tyrant!  What  can  the  Monarch  be  who 
tramples  under  foot  the  rights  of  humanity?  —  A  tyrant!! 
What  can  the  Monarch  be  who  can  make  the  laws  and 
the  justice  of  his  kingdom  his  sport?  —  A  tyrant!!! 
What  can  the  Monarch  be  who  in  criminal  decisions 
shall  act  only  according  to  his  caprice?  —  A  Joseph!!!! 

A  Joseph!  —  Oh,  God!  Great  God!  What  then  is  man? 
A  poor  and  feeble  creature,  whom  an  imperious  op- 
pressor may  at  any  moment  reduce  to  dust ;  or  may  rend 
his  heart,  extort  his  last  sigh,  by  the  seven  thousand 
raging  torments  which  the  Hydras  with  seven  thousand 
heads  in  sport  inflicts.  < 

Dreadful  image!  Ignominious  to  humanity,  yet  woe- 
fully true,  woefully  exact,  woefully  confirmed  by  expe- 
rience !  Does  not  a  Sovereign  who  increases  the  rigor  of 
sentences  openly  proclaim :  <(  Ye  Judges,  whom  I  have 

truth,  is  very  pleasant.  This  satire  has  been  licensed  and  publicly  sold 
at  Vienna,  which  is  another  singular  fact,  and  tends  to  prove  that  pas- 
quinades will  be  much  rather  suffered  in  Austria  than  instructive  and 
free  works. 


THE  COURT  OF  BERLIN  165 

appointed  to  judge  according  to  law  and  equity,  ye  are 
prevaricators;  ye  have  betrayed  your  trust,  falsified 
your  consciences,  and  have  endeavored  to  practice  deceit 
upon  me  ? w  Such  magistrates,  therefore,  ought  not  to  be 
continued  in  office ;  for,  to  suffer  them  still  to  be  Judges 
is  to  approve  their  conduct,  and  confirm  their  judgment. 
But,  destructive  as  the  thunderbolt,  the  Monarch,  ad- 
dressing them,  exclaims :  *  Your  sentence  is  too  mild !  It 
is  my  will  arbitrarily  to  increase  punishment,  that  I  may 
prove  myself  the  master  of  life  and  death ! M  What  lan- 
guage, oh,  God!  from  the  mouth  of  a  King  whom  thou 
hast,  appointed  to  be  our  protector,  and  not  our  ty- 
rant! 

Szekely  would  never  have  been  condemned,  had  he 
not  been  intimately  connected  with  the  Freemasons. 
When  the  Emperor  pronounced  sentence  against  this  un- 
fortunate man,  he  forgot  himself  so  far  as  to  say,  (<  I  will 
let  those  gentry  (the  Freemasons)  understand  there  is  no 
efficacy  in  their  protection." 

Where,  then,  is  the  equity  of  a  Monarch  who  thus  pros- 
titutes the  power  he  is  in  possession  of,  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  one  of  the  members  of  a  society  which  he 
detests  ?  Who  would  not  smile  contemptuously  at  the 
poor  malice  of  a  peasant  who  should  go  in  search  of  his 
neighbor,  after  twilight,  that  he  might  unseen  give  him 
a  fillip  on  the  nose,  run  away,  and  divert  himself  with 
having  played  him  so  cunning  a  trick.  Oh,  Justice! 
Justice!  Shalt  thou  forever  have  eyes  that  thou  mayst 
not  see? 

Yes,  debased,  corrupted  was  the  mouth  which  increased 
the  rigor  of  the  sentence  of  Szekely,  who  previously  had 
been  destined  to  languish  eight  years  in  prison.  Joseph 
has  diminished  the  term  of  his  detention.  And  are  these, 
then,  thy  favors,  sceptered  executioner  ?  Yes,  this  favor 
granted  to  a  man  of  quality,  who  was  for  three  succes- 
sive days  exposed  in  the  pillory,  resembles  that  which  a 
criminal,  condemned  to  the  gallows,  should  receive  from 
thee,  whom  thou  shouldst  permit  to  be  racked  upon  the 
wheel,  because  he  was  too  feeble  to  mount  the  ladder. 

Couldst  thou  have  survived  the  shame  of  such  a  crime, 
had  not  thy  people  themselves  applauded  thy  fury  ?  The 


166  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

curiosity  with  which  all  Vienna  enjoyed  the  spectacle  the 
wretched  Szekely  afforded,  proves  that  the  manners  of 
thy  subjects  already  partake  of  thine  own  barbarity. 
But  let  them  tremble,  slaves  as  they  are,  bowed  beneath 
the  yoke.  A  new  Nero  promises  new  crimes,  new  hor- 
rors! 


LETTER  XXXVII. 

BRUNSWICK,  October  i8th,  1786. 

I  FEAR  there  are  some  waverings  in  the  mind  of  the 
King,  relative  to  Holland;  for  the  Duke,  after  the  ar- 
rival of  his  courier,  and  receiving  information  of  the 
danger  of  Count  Finckenstein,  again  spoke  to  me  on  the 
subject,  with  a  degree  of  inquietude  which  was  far  from 
dissembled.  The  following  were  his  precise  words: 
<(  Holland  will  certainly  occasion  a  war,  especially  should 
the  death  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  intervene;  do  you 
act,  therefore,  as  mediators  to  smother  the  rising  flames. 
Come,  come,  the  Stadtholder  must  have  a  council,  with- 
out which  he  can  perform  nothing;  and  how  shall  this 
council  be  selected  ? }> 

I  replied  to  the  Duke  that  I  was  not  sufficiently  ac- 
quainted with  those  affairs  to  give  any  opinion  on  the 
subject,  but  that  I  was  going  to  make  him  a  proposition 
which  he  must  regard  as  only  ideal,  and  as  coming 
from  myself,  although  it  might  by  no  means  be  imprac- 
ticable. 

(<  Now  that  I  know  how  far  I  can  depend  upon  your 
prudence  and  your  principles, w  I  continued,  (<  I  am  certain 
that  you  will  see  the  affairs  and  the  conduct  of  the 
Stadtholder  in  their  true  light ;  that  you  will  not  imagine 
friendship  in  politics  can  have  any  other  basis  than  in- 
terests; or  that  we  ought  to  renounce  our  alliance  with 
Holland,  in  order  that  the  Princess  of  Orange  may  nightly 
enjoy  more  agreeable  dreams;  that  you  cannot  but  com- 
prehend how  much  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  place  any 
confidence  in  Count  Hertzberg,  who,  relative  to  us,  is 
frantic,  and  how  much  our  distrust  may  be  increased 
should  our  sole  counterpoise  to  this  violent  Minister  dis- 
appear by  the  death  of  Count  Finckenstein.  I  shall, 
therefore,  thus  far,  willingly  step  forward  to  say  that  it 
appears  to  me  very  probable  that  France  will  be  inclined 
to  treat  on  this  affair  with  you  singly,  should  the  King 

(167) 


168  SECRET     COURT   MEMOIRS 

of  Prussia  consent  that  you  should  be  solely  trusted  with 
the  business  on  his  behalf;  and,  as  I  may  say,  should 
you  be  made  arbitrator.  I  feel  how  important  it  is  to 
you,  to  us,  and  to  all,  that  you  should  not  endanger 
yourself  in  the  opinion  of  his  Majesty.  There  are  al- 
ready but  too  many  causes  of  distance  existing  between 
you,  and  the  country  is  entirely  lost  if  the  necessities  of 
the  times  do  not  oblige  you  to  take  the  helm.  But, 
should  you  find  the  crisis  so  alarming  as  to  dread  de- 
cisive events  should  be  the  consequence,  it  appears  to  me 
that  then  it  will  no  longer  be  proper  to  keep  beating  against 
the  wind.  For,  if  the  King  of  Prussia  be  fated  to  commit 
irreparable  faults,  it  would  be  as  well  for  all  parties 
that  he  should  begin  to-morrow,  in  order  that  we  might 
the  sooner  augur  what  his  reign  shall  be,  and  choose 
our  sides  in  consequence.  It  is  for  you,  therefore,  to 
know  in  what  degree  of  favor  you  are  with  the  King. 
He  cannot  love  you;  for  never  yet  did  the  weak  man 
love  the  strong.  He  cannot  desire  you  should  be  his 
Minister,  for  never  yet  did  a  vain  and  dark  man  desire 
to  possess  one  who  was  himself  illustrious  and  luminous. 
But  it  is  neither  his  friendship  nor  his  inclination  that 
are  necessary  to  you;  it  is  power.  You  ought  to  acquire 
that  ascendency  over  him  which  a  grand  character  and 
a  vast  genius  may  ever  acquire  over  a  confined  under- 
standing and  an  unstable  mind.  If  you  have  enough  of 
this  ascendency  to  inspire  him  with  fears  for  his  situa- 
tion; to  convince  him  that  he  is  already  betrayed  to 
danger;  that  the  sending  of  Goertz,  in  your  despite  (or, 
rather,  without  your  knowledge,  for  you  were  not  then 
at  Berlin),  is  a  blunder  of  magnitude,  which  has  been 
committed  without  possessing  the  least  pledge  of  docility 
on  the  part  of  the  Stadtholder;  that  the  inconsiderate  let- 
ters of  Hertzberg  form  another  equal  blunder;  that  this 
Minister  pursues  his  PERSONAL  INTERESTS,  and  those  only,  at 
the  hazard  of  depriving  his  master  of  PERSONAL  RESPECT, 
even  from  the  commencement  of  his  reign ;  since  it  is  very 
evident  that,  if  he  persist  in  his  thoughtless  interference  (be 
suppositions  as  favorable,  nay,  almost  as  romantic,  as  you 
please ),  he  will  only  have  played  the  cards  of  the  Eng- 
lish, although  they  have  spoiled  their  own  game  —  if  you 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  169 

can  make  him  sensible  of  all  this,  you  will  easily  be  able 
to  persuade  him  that  he  will  but  be  too  fortunate  in  ac- 
cepting your  mediation.  And,  although  mediation  is 
not  exactly  the  phrase  which  may  be  employed,  because 
it  does  not  exactly  square  with  the  rule  of  proportion, 
such  is  the  esteem  in  which  you  are  held  by  the  Cabinet 
of  Versailles  that,  should  this  negotiation  once  be  com- 
mitted to  your  care,  all  difficulties  will  vanish  of  them- 
selves. Such  a  measure,  therefore,  would  have  the 
double  advantage  of  accommodating  the  affair,  which  you 
regard  as  the  brand  of  discord,  and  of  teaching  the  King 
to  feel  that  he  presumes  too  much  if  he  imagines  that, 
by  the  sole  magic  of  the  abrupt  and  tudescan  *  French  of 
Count  Hertzberg,  he  will  be  able  to  preserve  the  same 
respect  for  his  Court  which  a  succession  of  great  acts, 
heroical  prosperity,  vigilant  activity,  and  perseverence, 
even  to  a  miracle,  for  forty-six  years,  have  procured  it; 
that  he  has  need  of  a  man  whose  name  abroad  and  whose 
influence  at  home  should  attract  confidence  and  serve  as 
the  keystone  to  an  arch  which,  according  to  its  dimen- 
sions, has  but  little  solidity;  or,  to  speak  without  a 
metaphor,  a  kingdom,  ill-situated,  ill-constituted,  ill-gov- 
erned, and  which  possesses  no  real  strength,  except  in 
opinion,  since  its  military  position  is  wretched  and  its 
resources  precarious.  For,  with  respect  to  the  treasury, 
it  will  vanish  if  a  hand  of  iron,  yet  not  a  hand  of 
avarice,  should  not  guard  it;  and,  as  to  an  army,  who 
can  be  more  convinced  than  you  are,  that  years  scarcely 
are  sufficient  for  its  formation;  but  that  six  months  of 
relaxed  discipline  may  degrade  it  so  that  it  shall  no 
longer  be  cognizable?  » 

This  discourse,  which  fixed  the  attention  of  the  Duke, 
and  which  was  particularly  intended  to  divine  what  he 
himself  imagined  he  might  be  able  to  accomplish,  and 
what  he  might  become,  appeared  to  produce  a  very 
great  effect.  Instead  of  beginning,  as  he  always  does, 
by  ambiguous  and  dilatory  phrases,  which  may  serve  any 
purpose  he  shall  please,  he  immediately  entered  into  the 
spirit  of  my  discourse,  and,  after  having  felt  and  owned, 
with  an  effusion  of  heart  and  a  penetrating  tone,  that  I 

*  German. 


170  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

presented  him  a  prospect  of  the  greatest  honor  his  imag- 
ination could  conceive,  and  which  he  should  prefer  to 
the  gaining  of  six  victories,  he  joined  with  me  in  en- 
deavoring to  find  some  means  of  making  the  overture  to 
the  King. 

*  I  do  not  imagine, }>  said  he,  (<  my  situation  will  author- 
ize the  attempt  without  previous  measures.  I  am  more 
afraid  of  injuring  the  cause  than  of  injuring  myself,  but 
it  is  certainly  necessary  the  project  should  be  conveyed 
to  him,  and,  should  he  afford  the  least  opportunity,  I  will 
explain  everything.  Cannot  you  speak  to  Count  Finck- 
enstein,  should  he  recover?" 

(<  No,  for  he  strictly  confines  himself  to  his  depart- 
ment. Neither  is  this  anything  more  than  an  idea  of 
my  own,  and  of  small  diplomatic  value,  since  I  have  no 
credentials. w 

«  You  have  but  few  opportunities  of  speaking  in  private 
to  Werner  ?» 

«Very  few.  Besides,  how  can  that  man  ever  be  de- 
voted to  you  ?  He  determines  to  act  the  principal  part 
himself.  He  is  industrious  for  his  own  interest,  being 
very  sensible  that,  because  of  his  obscurity,  he  has  an 
immense  advantage  over  you,  not  to  mention  that  he  is 
the  intimate  friend  of  your  brother,  who  does  not  wish 
your  company  at  Berlin." 

In  fact,  this  brother  hates  the  Duke,  by  whom  he  is 
despised,  and  hopes  for  favor  and  influence  under  the 
reign  of  mysticism. 

We  had  proceeded  thus  far  in  our  discourse  when  the 
whole  Court,  leaving  the  opera  for  supper,  and  the  Duke 
of  York,  by  entering  without  any  precursor,  obliged  us 
to  break  off.  He  has  appointed  to  meet  me  this  morn- 
ing, the  day  of  my  departure,  at  nine  o'clock,  and  to  him 
I  am  now  going. 

The  Duke,  as  I  expected,  was  shaken  to-day  in  his 
resolution  of  having  himself  named  to  the  King.  I  say 
as  I  expected,  for  his  brilliant  imagination  and  ambitious 
energy  easily  catch  fire  at  his  first  emotions,  although  he 
should  betray  no  exterior  symptoms  except  those  of  tran- 
quillity. But  the  rein  he  has  so  long  put  upon  his 
passions,  which  he  has  eternally  had  under  command,  and 


171 

in  which  habit  he  has  been  most  persevering,  reconducts 
him  to  the  hesitation  of  experience,  and  to  that  super- 
abundant circumspection  which  his  great  diffidence  of 
mankind,  and  his  foible,  I  mean  his  dread  of  losing  his 
reputation,  incessantly  inspire.  He  made  a  circumstantial 
display  of  the  delicacy  with  which  the  petty  glory,  or, 
to  speak  plainly,  said  he,  the  vainglory  of  the  King  must 
be  managed. 

Taking  up  the  conversation  at  the  point  where  we  had 
left  it,  he  assured  me  that,  with  respect  to  Welner,  I 
was  deceived;  that  he  was  one  of  the  persons  in  Berlin 
on  whom  he  depended,  and  who  rather  wished  to  see 
him  in  power  than  any  other;  that  I  might  easily  speak 
with  him  at  the  house  of  Moulines  (his  Resident,  an 
artful  man,  but  too  ostensibly  artful,  ready  to  serve  that 
he  may  better  perform  his  office  of  spy,  but  proffering 
his  services  with  too  much  facility;  appointed  to  take 
part  in  the  education  of  the  Prince  of  Prussia,  but, 
hitherto,  without  any  title;  a  deserter  from  Prince 
Henry,  since  it  has  become  pretty  evident  the  Prince  will 
never  be  in  power;  inclined  to  serve  France,  in  general, 
and,  indeed  too  visibly,  for  he  is  styled  the  Privy  Coun- 
selor of  Comte  d'Esterno,  but,  in  his  heart,  solely 
attached  to  himself);  that  Welner  goes  there  very  often; 
that  he  certainly  would  not  speak  openly,  at  first,  but 
that  he  would  at  length  repeat  to  the  King  whatever  I 
should  say. 

The  Duke  often  reiterated  that  he  thought  it  useless 
and  dangerous  for  him  to  be  named,  and,  in  fine,  although 
with  difficulty,  and,  as  I  may  say,  against  his  inclination, 
he  gave  me  the  true  reason.  In  a  fortnight,  he  was  to 
be  at  Berlin,  or,  perhaps,  sooner,  for  (take  particular 
notice  of  what  follows)  IT  APPEARS  THAT  THE  HOPE 
AFFORDED  BY  SIR  JAMES  HARRIS  (the  English  Ambassador 
at  The  Hague)  OF  A  POWERFUL  AND  EFFICACIOUS  SUCCOR, 
SHOULD  THE  KlNG  OF  PRUSSIA  RESOLVE,  WITH  AN  ARMED 
FORCE,  TO  CREATE  HIMSELF  UMPIRE  OF  THE  AFFAIRS  OF 
HOLLAND,  HAS  INSPIRED  THE  KING  WITH  A  WISH  TO  CONFER 
WITH  HIS  SERVANTS.  I  literally  repeat  the  words  the 
Duke  pronounced,  who  fixed  his  eyes  upon  me,  but  whom 
I  defy  not  only  to  have  observed  the  least  trait  of  emo- 


172  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

tion  in  my  countenance,  but  still  more  not  to  have  been 
struck  with  a  smile,  almost  imperceptible  and  very  iron- 
ical, as  if  I  had  known  and  contemned  the  fact.  My 
only  reply  at  the  end  of  his  sentence  was,  shrugging 
up  my  shoulders: 

<{  There  is  little  need  I  should  remark  to  you,  mon- 
seigneur,  that  the  conquest  which  Louis  XIV.,  Turenne, 
De  Conde",  De  Luxembourg,  De  Louvois,  and  two 
hundred  thousand  French,  could  not  make  of  Holland, 
will  never  be  effected  by  Prussia,  watched  by  the  Em- 
peror, on  that  same  country,  now  that  it  is  supported 
by  France."* 

The  Duke  therefore  is  going,  or  wishes  to  make  us 
believe  he  is  going,  to  Berlin;  where  deliberations  are 
to  be  held  on  the  propositions  of  England. 

So  be  it.  So  much  the  better.  Do  not  be  alarmed. 
The  Duke  is  rather  German  than  Prussian,  and  as  good 
a  statesman  as  he  is  a  great  warrior.  He  will  prove  such 
a  proposition  to  be  so  absurd  that  it  is  probably  no  more 
than  the  personal  conception  of  the  audacious  and  artful 
Harris,  who  wishes,  at  any  expense,  to  make  his  fortune, 
and  in  a  fit  of  madness  to  poniard  his  nation,  which  is 
more  able  than  sage. 

Still,  however,  I  think  my  journey  to  Brunswick  is  a 
lucky  accident;  for  I  confess,  and  with  great  pleasure,  I 
found  the  principles  of  the  Duke  to  be  moderate,  pru- 
dent, and,  politically  speaking,  wholly  French.  I  depicted 
the  affair,  or  rather  affairs,  as  a  whole,  under  new  points 
of  view;  and  if,  as  I  persist  in  believing,  or  rather  as  I 
have  believed  more  strongly  since  I  have  known  that  he 
depends  upon  Welner  for  strengthening  his  party,  his 
measures  have  long  been  taken  (for  Welner  has  been  a 
canon  at  Halberstadt,  where  the  regiment  of  the  Duke 
remains),  if,  I  say,  the  necessity  of  accident  should  oblige 
him  to  take  the  helm,  I  shall  have  acquired  the  greatest 
advantages  to  treat  with  and  make  him  a  party  in  our 
designs. 

He  has  desired  I  would  give  Comte  d'Esterno  the  very 
good  advice,  should  Count  Finckenstein  die,  or  even 

*Here,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  traveler  was  a  false  prophet,  but 
whether  it  was  precisely  his  fault  still  remains  to  be  inquired. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  173 

should  he  not,  to  demand  to  treat  on  the  affairs  of  Hol- 
land, and  on  all  that  relates  to  them,  immediately  with  his 
Majesty.  This  is  the  most  certain  means  of  battering 
Hertzberg  in  breach,  who  certainly  has  been  controverted 
with  great  firmness  in  these  affairs  by  the  King,  and  to 
obtain  that  which  we  shall  seem  only  to  expect  from  the 
judgment  and  personal  will  of  the  Monarch.  It  is  a 
proceeding  which  is  successful  with  all  Kings,  even  with 
the  greatest.  Vanswieten  obtained  from  Frederick  II. 
himself  the  most  important  concessions  by  acting  thus; 
and  this  is  certainly  a  much  more  safe,  as  it  is  a  more 
noble  mode,  than  all  the  deceitful  efforts  which  flattery 
can  employ  with  Prince  Henry,  whose  glaring  protection 
is  more  injurious  to  the  French  Embassy  than  it  ever 
can  be  productive  of  good,  under  the  most  favorable 
contingencies.  For  I  am  not  very  unapt  to  believe,  as 
the  Duke  affirms  without  disguise,  that  this  PARTITION 
PRINCE,*  were  he  master  of  affairs,  would  be  the  most 
dangerous  of  the  enemies  of  Germanic  freedom.  I  must 
conclude,  for  I  have  not  time  to  cipher;  the  remainder 
of  this  inestimable  conversation  will  be  sent  you  hereafter. 
Inform  me,  with  all  possible  expedition,  how  I  ought  to 
act  under  the  present  circumstances,  and  be  persuaded 
that,  if  you  can  find  any  means  whatever  of  giving  me 
secret  official  credit  with  the  King,  or  even  with  the 
Duke,  you  will  act  very  wisely. 

Additional  Note 

If  you  do  not  imagine  I  am  totally  doting,  mark  me. 
I  conjure  you  to  read,  and  cause  this  to  be  read,  with 
the  utmost  attention;  and  not  to  suffer  me  to  wait  a 
single  moment  for  an  answer,  even  though  it  should  be 
absolutely  necessary,  for  this  purpose,  to  borrow  some 
few  hours  from  the  levity  of  the  country,  or  to  be  con- 
sistent for  a  whole  day  together. 

*  Ce  Prince  partageur:  alluding,  no  doubt,  to  the  dismemberment 
of  Poland,  in  which  he  was  as  LAUDABLY  active  as  the  just,  the 
philosophic,  the  GREAT  King,  his  brother,  and  from  motives  EQUALLY 
PURE,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  anecdote  of  the  statue. 


LETTER   XXXVIII. 

BERLIN,  October  2ist,  1786. 

I  ARRIVED  at  half-past  five  in  the  morning.  The  King 
was  to  exercise  his  cavalry  at  six.  I  immediately 
mounted  my  horse,  that  I  might  discover  the  state 
of  his  health,  observe  what  aspect  he  wore,  and  if  possi- 
ble to  find  some  person  to  whom  I  might  address  myself. 
His  health  is  good,  his  brow  cloudy;  the  troops  were 
obliged  to  wait  a  considerable  time,  and  after  two  charges 
he  very  abruptly  and  very  ridiculously  retired.  Nothing 
sufficiently  new  or  important  has  come  to  my  knowledge 
to  prevent  my  employing  the  few  remaining  moments 
before  the  departure  of  the  courier,  and  which  are  greatly 
abridged  by  your  eight  pages  of  ciphers,  in  resuming  the 
consequences  which  I  have  drawn  from  the  very  inter- 
esting conversation,  an  account  of  which  I  gave  you  in 
my  last  dispatch.  It  is  impossible  I  should  send  you  a 
complete  and  circumstantial  narrative  of  all  that  passed, 
because  that  the  Duke,  an  hour  after  I  had  left  him,  hav- 
ing sent  me  his  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  (M.  von 
Ardensberg  von  Reventlau),  I  have  too  much  to  add. 
Four  particulars  appeared  to  me  evident: 
i.  That,  during  the  confidential  conference  with  the 
Duke,  a  great  complication  of  sensation,  emotion,  and 
design  was  mingled.  He  wishes  we  should  aid  him  in 
becoming  Prime  Minister  of  Prussia,  but  that  we  should 
act  with  caution.  He  is  not  convinced  that  we  desire  to 
see  him  in  that  post  ( I  did  everything  in  my  power  to 
persuade  him  of  it),  yet  perfectly  satisfied  that  any  in- 
terference in  the  affairs  of  Holland  would  be  a  stupid 
error,  he  is  anxious  that  Prussia  should  act  with  propri- 
ety, and  that,  in  this  affair  at  least,  we  should  acquire 
influence.  He,  therefore,  while  he  informed  me,  en- 
deavored to  discover  if  I  already  had  any  information, 
and  whether  we  were  determined  in  the  pursuit  of  our 
projects.  To  the  same  purport  were  the  after  commen- 

(174) 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  175 

taries  of  Ardensberg,  his  deceptive  confidences,  and 
Gazette  secrets,  the  recall,  not  only  of  M.  de  Coetloury, 
but  also  of  M.  de  Veyrac,  our  desertion  of  the  patriotic 
party,  etc.,  etc.,  to  all  which  particulars  I  replied  with  a 
smile. 

2.  That  the  great  inquietude   of  the   Duke  arises  from 
not   knowing  whether   we    are   or  are  not   Austrians,  or 
whether  we  are  merely  so  undecided  on  the  subject  that 
the  errors,  or  the  cold  distance,  of  the  Cabinet  of  Berlin 
will  be  sufficient  to  induce   us,  at  the  hazard  of  all  that 
can  happen,  to  second  the  Emperor  in  his  designs  against 
Germany.     In   my  opinion,    were   the    Duke    freed    from 
his  apprehensions  on  this   very  capital  article,    he  would 
be  French,  for  he  is  strongly  German,  and  the  English 
can    only    set    Germany    in    flames;    we    alone   have   the 
power  of  maintaining  it  in  peace.     Should  his  connections 
with  England  appear  to  be    strengthened,  it  is  but,  as  I 
think,  because  he  distrusts  the  destiny  of  Prussia,  for  he 
well    knows    that    his  -English    calculations    are    rather 
specious  than  solid,    and   that   the   Prussian,  though  per- 
haps somewhat  more  subaltern,  are  much  less  hazardous. 

3.  He  and  his  Minister    have   so  often  demanded,  and 
redemanded,  on  what  basis    I   imagined   the   pacification 
of  Holland  might   be   established,  that    I   have  supposed 
the  Duke  probably  thinks,  should  we  exclude  the  Prince 
of  Prussia  from  the    Nassau    alliance,  there   might   be    a 
necessity  of  choosing  his  daughter,  the  Princess  Caroline 
of  Brunswick,    as  a   consort   for  the    Prussian  heir.     The 
supposition  is  founded  on   circumstances  so  fugitive  that 
it  is  impossible   to    give   them   written   evidence,  or  per- 
haps probable,    especially  because,    not   having  received 
any  instructions  on  such   a  subject,  I  have  not  dared  to 
make  any  advances.     I  therefore  only  give  it  for  what  it  is 
worth.     The  being  but   little   informed  of  the  affairs  of 
Holland  has,  in   every    respect,  been  highly  injurious  to 
me  on  this   occasion.     Might  I   have   spoken  more  freely 
I  might  even  have  drawn  the  well  dry.      The  only  posi- 
tive proposal  which    he  made  on    the  subject  was  a  kind 
of  coalition-council  of  regency,  without    which  the  Stad- 
tholder  could  effect  nothing,  and  in  which  should  be  in- 
cluded   Gislaer,  Vanberckel,  etc.,  etc.,  but  among  whom 


176  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

also  must  be  seated  M.  Van  Lynden,  the  governor  of 
the  children  of  the  Stadtholder,  etc. ,  etc.  To  my  eternal 
objection,  <(  How  will  you  support  those  measures  which 
shall  be  taken  under  the  pledge  of  your  aid  ? w  he  con- 
tinually replied :  *  Should  the  Stadtholder  counteract  these 
arrangements,  we  will  abandon  him. w  <(  But  how  far  ?  "  I  re- 
plied. <(  And,  if  but  amicably,  how  will  he  be  injured, 
should  he  be  thus  abandoned  ? "  In  a  word,  I  continued 
with  a  kind  of  mysterious  obstinacy,  to  maintain  that  the 
Stadtholder  would  never  be  brought  to  reason,  unless  it 
should  be  declared  to  him  that  the  King  of  Prussia 
would  forsake  his  party,  though  his  consort  might  be 
secretly  informed  such  was  not  the  real  intent. 

4.  It  appeared  to  me  that  the  Duke  was  ruminating 
on  some  grand  project  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  Ger- 
manic edifice,  for  this  able  Prince  perceives  the  antique, 
ruinous  building  must  be  propped  in  order  to  be  pre- 
served, and  even  in  many  parts  repaired.  The  sole  wish 
which  he  clearly  testified  was  the  separation  of  the  Elec- 
torate of  Hanover  from  the  English  Monarchy,  and  the 
secularization  of  certain  provinces,  which  might  one  day 
form  an  equivalent  for  Saxony.  He  supposes  the  first 
point  might  be  gained,  and  even  without  any  great  dif- 
ficulty, should  our  politics  become  Anglicized,  and  that 
the  second  might  be  accomplished,  though  contrary  to 
the  confederation  of  the  Princes,  because,  at  the  death 
of  the  Elector  of  Mayence,  there  will  be  an  opportunity 
of  retouching  the  league,  as  well  as  a  natural  and  proper 
occasion  of  coming  to  an  explanation  with  the  ecclesias- 
tical Princes,  who,  more  interested  than  any  others  in  the 
liberties  of  Germany,  are  always  the  first  to  tergiversate, 
etc.,  etc.  Hence,  we  at  least  may  learn  that,  however 
attached  he  may  appear  to  be  to  the  confederation,  means 
may  be  found  of  inducing  him  to  listen  to  reason  con- 
cerning modifications. 

The  instructions  which  are  necessary  for  me,  at  pres- 
ent, are: 

i.  Whether  we  ought,  on  this  occasion,  to  bring  him 
on  the  stage,  which  would  be  the  real  means  of  driving 
him  from  it;  and  I  certainly  do  not  think  the  latter  to 
be  our  interest,  for  he  is  more  prudent,  more  able,  and 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  177 

less  susceptible  of  prejudice  and  passion,  than  any  other 
who  can  be  made  Minister. 

2.  Whether   his    party    ought    to    be    encouraged    and 
strengthened,  which  will  be    to    act    directly  contrary  to 
the  party  of  Prince  Henry;    for  the  plan  of  the  Duke  is 
exclusive;    and,  to  confess  the  truth,  he   appears   tacitly 
so  convinced  that  the  Prince  can  effect  nothing,  that  he 
has  greatly  fortified  my  own  opinion  on  this  subject. 

3.  What  is  the  degree  of  confidence   I   ought  to  place 
in  him  ?     For  it  is   impossible  to  obtain   the   confidence 
of,  without   placing   confidence   in,  such  a  man;  and   in 
my  apprehension  he  had  better  be  told  than  suffered  to 
divine. 

Count  Finckenstein  is  recovering. 

The  King  arrived  on  the  eighteenth,  at  eight  in  the 
morning,  after  having  left  Breslau,  on  the  seventeenth, 
at  seven  in  the  morning.  This  was  incredible  diligence; 
no  person  could  keep  pace  with  him.  He  went  on  the 
same  day  to  visit  the  Queen  Dowager,  and  thus  gave  oc- 
casion to  attribute  the  rapidity  and  danger  of  the  jour- 
ney to  Mademoiselle  Voss.  She  is  said  to  be  pregnant; 
but,  in  the  first  place,  this  cannot  be  known,  and,  in  the 
second,  I  do  not  believe  the  haste  would  have  been  so 
great,  had  it  been  truth.  According  to  report,  she  has 
demanded  two  hundred  thousand  crowns.  Should  this  be 
so,  the  circle  of  her  career  will  not  be  very  ample. 

The  King  made  a  multitude  of  nobles  in  Silesia,  as 
elsewhere.  But,  without  loading  my  letter,  the  Gazettes 
will  tell  you  enough  of  their  names.  He  is  to  remain  a 
week  at  Potsdam,  which  is  to  be  dedicated  to  his  mili- 
tary labors.  Great  changes  in  the  army  are  spoken  of, 
such  as  will  be  favorable  to  the  subalterns,  and  the  re- 
verse to  the  captains. 

The  Dantzickers,  who,  according  to  appearances,  sup- 
posed Kings  were  hobgoblins,  were  so  enraptured  to 
meet  with  one  who  did  not  eat  their  children  that,  in 
the  excess  of  their  enthusiasm,  they  were  willing  to  put 
themselves  without  restraint  under  the  Prussian  Govern- 
ment. The  Magistrates  eluded  the  folly  of  the  populace 
as  well  as  they  could,  under  the  pretence  that  Dantzic 
was  dependent  on  Poland;  but  so  great  and  so  violent 

12 


178  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

was  the  tumult,  that  Prussian  and  Polish  couriers  were 
sent  off.  This  event  will  no  doubt  rouse  the  Emperor 
and  Russia;  a  favorable  circumstance  to  our  affairs  in 
Holland. 

Count  Hertzberg,  who  has  indulged  himself  in  very 
headlong  acts  in  Silesia,  and  particularly  in  his  discourse 
on  the  day  of  homage,  in  which  he  really  braved  the 
Emperor  in  a  very  indecent  manner,  as  if  it  was  not  in 
his  nature  to  accommodate  himself  to  a  peaceable  order 
of  affairs;  Hertzberg,  I  say,  has  had  the  influence  to  re- 
tard the  nomination  of  Alvensleben  for  the  French  Em- 
bassy, which  had  been  announced  by  the  King  at  supper. 
How  might  I  have  expected  to  be  thus  deceived,  since, 
when  I  sent  you  the  intelligence,  I  supposed  it  to  be  an 
affair  so  public  that  I  did  not  even  write  it  in  a  cipher  ? 


LETTER  XXXIX. 

October  24th,   1786. 

I  SHALL  begin  my  dispatch  with  an  anecdote,  the  truth 
of  which  is  undoubted,  and  which  appears  to  me  the 
most  decisive  of  all  I  have  learned  concerning  the  new 
reign.  Recollect  that,  in  Number  XVIII.,  August  zpth,  I 
wrote : 

"The  King  apparently  intends  to  renounce  all  his  old 
habits.  This  is  a  proud  undertaking.  He  retires  before 
ten  in  the  evening,  and  rises  at  four.  Should  he  perse- 
vere, he  will  afford  a  singular  example  of  habits  of 
thirty  years  being  vanquished.  This  will  be  an  indubi- 
table proof  of  a  grand  character,  and  show  how  we  have 
all  been  mistaken.  * 

When  I  spoke  thus,  I,  like  the  rest  of  the  world  judged 
by  appearances.  The  truth  is  that  at  half  after  nine  the 
King  disappeared,  and  was  supposed  to  be  gone  to  rest; 
whereas,  in  the  most  retired  apartments  of  the  palace, 
like  another  Sardanapalus,  he  held  his  orgies  till  night 
was  far  advanced.  Hence  it  is  easy  to  understand  why 
hours  of  business  were  obliged  to  be  inverted.  Health 
would  not  allow  him  to  be  equally  active  upon  the  stage 
and  behind  the  scenes. 

Prince  Henry  regards  himself  as  kept  at  a  distance  as 
•well  from  system  as  from  inclination.  He  is,  or  believes 
himself  to  be,  persuaded  that  the  innumerable  follies  which 
will  result  from  his  absence,  for  in  his  opinion  the  coun- 
try without  his  aid  is  undone,  will  occasion  recourse  to 
be  had  to  his  experience  and  his  abilities,  and  he  then 
intends  to  refuse  that  tardy  succor  which  his  genius  will 
be  implored  to  yield.  Even  granting  him  the  truth  of 
all  these  vain  dreams,  he  does  not  recollect  that  the  ex- 
pression of  an  undone  country  is  only  true  relative  to  a 
certain  lapse  of  time  and  that  therefore  in  all  probabil- 

(179) 


i8o  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

ity,  he  will  be  dead  before  the  want  of  his  assistance 
will  be  perceived.  He  comes  to  reside  four  months  at 
Berlin,  there,  according  to  him,  to  suffer  martrydom, 
that  it  may  not  be  supposed  he  has  deserted  the  public 
cause.  His  places  of  asylum  are  afterward  to  be  Rheins- 
berg,  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  and  France ;  but  such  he  will 
easily  find  everywhere.  Consolation  will  not  be  wanting 
to  him,  since  consolation  can  be  found  at  playing  at 
blind  man's  buff,  or  hot  cockles,  with  actresses  more 
insipid  than  the  very  worst  of  our  provincial  companies 
can  afford. 

The  distribution  of  influence  continues  the  same. 
Hertzberg  violently  seizes  on  the  King,  who  probably 
has  more  esteem  for  Count  Finckenstein ;  but  whom,  not 
being  so  eternally  hunted  by  him,  he  leaves  in  a  sub- 
altern degree  of  credit,  which  from  apparent  may  become 
real,  the  easy  temper  of  the  master  considered.  The  re- 
maining Ministers  are  held  to  be  so  many  ciphers. 

Welner  daily  increases  his  jurisdiction,  and  Bishops- 
werder  his  influence,  but  he  does  not  appear  to  exercise 
this  influence  either  as  a  man  of  ostentation  or  a  dupe. 
He  neither  asks  for  titles,  ribbons,  nor  places.  At  most 
he  will  but  make  Ministers ;  he  will  never  be  one.  Three 
hundred  thousand  livres  for  each  of  his  daughters,  an  ex- 
cellent fief  for  himself,  with  military  rank  ( he  is  said  to 
be  a  good  officer),  these  are  what  he  wishes,  and  these 
he  most  probably  WILL  obtain.  In  the  meantime  no  per- 
son HAS  anything;  neither  he  nor  Welner  nor  Goertz, 
who  lives  by  borrowing. 

Bowlet?  —  The  influence  of  a  mason  engineer,  and  no 
other;  for  of  no  other  is  he  capable. 

Goltz  the  Tartar?  —  Artful,  sly,  dexterous ;  perhaps  am- 
bitious, but  very  selfish  and  covetous.  Money  is  his 
ruling  passion,  and  money  he  will  have.  He  will  prob- 
ably have  the  greatest  influence  over  military  affairs,  un- 
less the  Duke  of  Brunswick  should  take  them  to  himself. 
The  memorials  relative  to  fortification  are  transmitted 
to  him. 

Colonel  Wartensleben  is  evidently  kept  at  a  distance, 
and  probably  because  of  his  family  connections  with 
Prince  Henry;  who,  to  all  his  other  disadvantages,  adds 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  181 

that  of  having  every  person  who  is  about  the  King  for 
his  enemy. 

Subalterns  ?  —  Their  kingdom  is  not  come.  It  should 
seem  that  having  long,  while  Prince  of  Prussia,  been  de- 
ceived by  them,  the  King  knows  and  recollects  this;  al- 
though from  compassion  he  wishes  not  to  notice  it,  at  least 
for  a  time. 

The  master? — What  is  he  ?  I  persist  in  believing  it 
would  be  rash,  at  present,  to  pronounce,  though  one  might 
be  strongly  tempted  to  reply  KING  LOG.  No  understand- 
ing, no  fortitude,  no  consistency,  no  industry ;  in  his  pleas- 
ures the  Hog  of  Epicurus  and  the  hero  only  of  pride; 
which,  perhaps,  we  should  rather  denominate  confined 
and  vulgar  vanity.  Such  hitherto  have  the  symptoms 
been.  And  under  what  circumstances,  in  what  an  age, 
and  at  what  a  post  ?  I  am  obliged  to  summon  all  my 
reason  to  divine,  and  to  forget  it  all  again  to  hope.  The 
thing  which  is  really  to  be  feared  is  lest  the  universal 
contempt  he  must  soon  incur  should  irritate  him,  and  de- 
prive him  of  that  species  of  benevolence  of  which  he 
shows  signs.  That  weakness  is  very  formidable  which 
unites  an  ardent  thirst  after  pleasures,  destitute  of  choice 
or  delicacy,  with  the  desire  of  keeping  them  secret  in  a 
situation  where  nothing  can  be  kept  secret. 

Not  that  I  here  am  writing  a  second  part  to  Madame 
de  SeVigne";  1  do  not  speak  ill  of  Frederick  William  be- 
cause he  overlooks  me,  as  she  spoke  well  of  Louis  XIV., 
because  he  had  lately  danced  a  minuet  with  her. 

Yesterday,  at  the  Court  of  the  Queen,  he  three  times 
addressed  himself  to  me,  which  he  never  before  did  in 
public.  (<  You  have  been  at  Magdeburg  and  Brunswick. w 

*  Yes,  Sire. w     (<  Were  you  pleased  with  the  manoeuvers  ?  * 
<(  Sire,  I  was  in  admiration. w     <(  I   ask  to  be  informed  of 
the  truth,  and  not  to  be  complimented. B     <(  In  my  opinion, 
Sire,  there  was  nothing  wanting  to  complete  the  splendor 
of  this  exhibition,  except  the  presence  of  your  Majesty.* 

*  Is   the    Duke    in   good    health  ? w     w  Exceedingly    good, 
Sire.  *    <(  Will  he  be  here  soon  ?  w    (<  Your  Majesty,  I  imag- 
ine, is  the  only  person  who  knows.*     He  smiled. 

This  is  a  specimen.  You  will  well  imagine  it  was,  per- 
sonally, very  indifferent  to  me  what  he  should  say  to  me 


i82  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

before  the  whole  Court,  but  it  was  not  so  to  the  audi- 
ence ;  and  I  note  this  as  having  appeared  to  make  a  part 
of  the  arranged  reparation  to  France,  which  reparation 
was  as  follows.  (From  this,  imagine  the  wit  of  the  Court 
of  Berlin;  for  I  am  convinced  there  was  a  real  desire  of 
giving  satisfaction  to  Comte  d'Esterno.) 

First,  it  was  determined  the  Queen  should  have  a 
Lotto,  and  not  a  private  party,  in  order  that  the  com- 
pany at  her  table  might  be  the  more  numerous.  After 
all  the  Princesses,  Prince  Henry,  Prince  Frederick  of 
Brunswick,  and  the  Prince  of  Holsteinbeck,  had  been 
invited,  and  taken  their  places,  Mademoiselle  Bishops- 
werder,  the  maid  of  honor,  who  regulated  the  party, 
named  Comte  d'Esterno.  The  Queen  then,  perceiving 
Lord  Dalrymple,  beckoned  him,  and  at  the  same  mo- 
ment desired  him  to  sit  down.  The  Ambassadors  of 
France  and  England  were  the  only  foreign  ministers  that 
were  of  the  party,  so  that  Princes  Reuss  and  Roman- 
zow  were  now  excluded,  as  they  before  had  appeared  to 
have  been  favored.  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  any- 
thing more  awkward,  or  more  inconsistent;  and  this  in- 
creases my  regret  at  remembering  that  Comte  d'Esterno 
thought  himself  obliged  to  take  offense  on  the  first  Court 
day  of  the  Queen;  for,  after  the  absurdity  of  yesterday, 
I  can  see  no  possible  hope  of  reparation  which  would  not 
be  slovenly  daubing. 

I  am  certain,  however,  that,  far  from  wishing  to 
wound,  they  were  desirous  to  heal;  and,  to  treat  the 
subject  less  petitely,  I  am  persuaded  it  is  wrong  to  af- 
firm the  King  hates  the  French.  He  hates  nothing;  he 
scarcely  LOVES  anything.  He  has  been  told  that  he  must 
become  wholly  German,  in  order  to  pursue  a  new  and 
glorious  track,  and  he  descends  to  the  level  of  his  na- 
tion, instead  of  desiring  to  elevate  his  nation  superior 
to  himself.  His  conduct  is  the  result  of  the  narrowness 
of  his  views.  If  he  have  a  cordial  dislike  to  anything, 
it  is  to  men  of  wit;  because  he  imagines  that,  in  their 
company,  it  is  absolutely  requisite  he  should  hear  wit, 
and  be  himself  a  wit.  He  despairs  of  the  one,  and 
therefore  hates  the  other.  He  has  not  yet  learned  that 
men  of  wit  only  are  the  people  who  can  appear  not  to  pos- 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  183 

sess  wit.  He  seems  to  have  made  a  determination  to  treat 
all  persons  in  an  amicable  manner,  without  haughtiness 
or  threat.  The  Stadtholder  always  receives  two  very  dif- 
ferent accounts  from  Berlin,  and  does  not  fail  to  believe 
that  which  flatters  his  ruling  passion. 

A  mile  from  this  place  some  very  secret  experiments 
are  making  on  the  artillery,  which  are  confided  to  Major 
Tempelhoff.  A  small  number  of  superior  officers  are 
admitted;  captains  are  excluded.  The  ground  is  covered 
by  tents,  and  guarded  by  sentinels,  night  and  day.  I 
shall  endeavor  to  learn  the  particulars. 

I  forgot  to  write  you  word,  from  Brunswick,  that  the 
Duchess  informed  me  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  consult- 
ing the  most  able  civilians  in  Europe,  to  learn  whether, 
by  marrying  a  Catholic,  the  positive  laws  of  England, 
the  laws  of  any  other  nation,  or  the  maxims  of  the  civil 
laws  of  Europe,  would  disinherit  an  heir,  and  particularly 
an  heir  apparent.  There  appears  to  be  much  imprudence 
in  this  appeal  of  an  heir  apparent  from  the  opinions  of 
Great  Britain  to  those  of  the  civilians. 

An  anecdote  less  important,  but  perhaps  more  poign- 
ant, is  that  the  Margrave  of  Baden-Baden  has  sent  M. 
von  Edelsheim  here  as  his  complimentary  envoy,  the 
brother  of  one  of  his  ministers  who  is  called  the  Choi- 
seul  of  Carlsruhe.  The  following  is  the  history  of  this 
complimentor,  who  has  arrived  long  after  all  the  others. 

At  a  time  when  the  prolific  virtues  of  the  father  of 
the  five  royal  children  were  held  in  doubt,  there  was  a 
wish  to  bestow  a  lover  on  a  lady  (the  afterward  divorced 
Queen,  banished  to  Stettin),  who,  had  they  not  done  so, 
would  have  made  bold  to  have  bestowed  one  on  herself. 
The  care  of  choosing  was  committed  to  the  brothers  of 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  They  descended  a  little  too 
low,  and  in  consequence  an  eye  was  cast  on  Edelsheim, 
who  was  publicly  enough  charged  with  this  great  work. 
He  was  afterward  sent  to  Paris  to  execute  another  com- 
mission, of  which  he  acquitted  himself  ill.  I  have  been 
assured  he  was  thrown  into  the  Bastille.  On  his  return 
he  was  disgraced,  but  afterward  employed,  and  sent  to 
various  courts  of  Germany  in  1778.  And  this  is  the  man 
whom,  in  his  high  wisdom,  the  Margrave  selected  for 


184  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

his  envoy  to  the  King  of  Prussia.     The  Monarch  himself, 
when  he  saw  him,  could  not  forbear  laughing. 

POSTSCRIPT. —  Yesterday,  at  eleven  in  the  morning,  the 
King,  hidden  in  a  gray  coach,  went  alone  to  Mon-Bijou, 
where  he  remained  an  hour,  whence  he  returned  in  a 
great  glow.  What  does  this  mean?  Is  this  the  triumph 
of  the  Lady  Voss  ?  It  is  impossible  at  present  to  know. 
Neither  has  anything  transpired  concerning  the  letters 
which  M.  von  Calenberg  has  brought  from  the  Stadt- 
holder. 

Muller  and  Landsberg,  private  secretaries  of  the  Cabi- 
net, demanded  their  dismission  with  considerable  chagrin, 
their  services  not  being  apparently  necessary,  said  they, 
since  they  were  not  thought  worthy  of  being  instructed 
concerning  the  answers  they  had  to  return,  and  since 
the  letters  were  sent  ready  composed  to  the  King.  They 
remain  in  their  places,  and  the  accommodation  was 
effected  by  Bishopswerder.  It  appears  that  he  is  in 
league  with  Welner  against  Hertzberg,  which  he  does 
not  take  any  great  precautions  to  conceal.  The  King 
will  not  go  to  Potsdam  to  make  the  military  arrange- 
ments before  Friday,  in  order,  as  it  is  supposed,  to  give 
the  Duke  time  to  arrive.  The  attempting  to  account  for 
all  the  caprices  of  kings  is  a  strange  kind  of  frenzy. 


LETTER    XL. 

October  28th,  1786. 

I  PASSED  yesterday  evening  with  Prince  Henry.  The 
King  had  dedicated  almost  the  whole  afternoon  of  the 
day  before  to  this  palace,  for,  after  having  been  with 
the  Prince,  he  visited  the  Princess,  where  he  played,  and 
drank  tea  with  Mademoiselle  Voss,  among  other  ladies 
of  honor.  This  kind  of  reconciliation  with  the  Prince 
(which,  however,  is  nothing  more  than  a  simple  act  of 
courtesy,  as  is  evident  from  the  succeeding  visit  to  the 
Princess,  whom  the  Prince  regards  as  his  most  cruel 
enemy),  this  reconciliation  (which  is  nearly  an  accurate 
phrase,  for  the  coolness  between  them  was  very  great) 
appears  to  be  the  political  work  of  Welner,  who  wishes, 
in  his  struggle  against  Hertzberg,  if  not  the  support,  at 
least  the  neutrality  of  the  Prince ;  and  the  hatred  of  this 
feeble  mortal  is  so  blind  in  effect  that,  united  with  the 
hopes  of  his  ambition,  of  which  he  is  not  easy  to  be 
cured,  it  was  sufficient  to  induce  him  once  more  meanly 
to  offer  his  services  to  the  King,  consequently  to  cast 
himself,  if  possible,  to  a  greater  distance.  Not  that  he 
himself  places  any  great  dependence  on  this  type  of 
peace,  which  is  the  more  suspicious  because  it  happened 
on  the  eve  of  a  succeeding  fortnight's  absence,  after 
which  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  find  pretenses  not  to  meet 
again  for  some  time  longer,  should  the  King  think 
proper.  But  the  Prince  imagines  his  enemy  dead,  and  he 
enjoys  himself,  and  chuckles  like  a  child,  without  recol- 
lecting that  this  is  the  very  way  to  promote  his  resur- 
rection. 

In  reality,  Count  Hertzberg  appears  to  have  cast  his 
own  die.  He  had  a  tolerable  run  of  ill  luck  in  Silesia, 
—  abrupt  disputes,  contradictions,  the  chagrin  of  seeing 
the  name  of  the  brother  of  his  former  mistress  struck  off 
from  the  list  of  Counts ;  he  ought,  even  while  in  Prussia, 
to  have  perceived  that  his  sounding  speeches  gave  no 

(185) 


186  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

pleasure.  On  the  day  of  receiving  homage,  he  read  over 
the  names  of  the  Counts,  and  when  he  came  to  his  own 
stopped,  that  the  King,  seated  on  his  throne,  might  pro- 
nounce it  himself,  and  the  Monarch  was  malicious  enough 
to  remain  silent,  so  that  the  inauguration  of  Count 
Hertzberg  did  not  take  place  till  the  day  after,  and  in 
the  antechamber. 

But  what  probably  has  occasioned  his  downfall,  if 
fallen  he  has,  was  his  haughty  behavior  to  Welner,  the 
least  forgetful  of  men,  and  who,  amid  his  ambitious 
projects,  needed  no  such  cause  of  rancor  to  occasion 
him  to  hate  and  injure  the  Minister.  Hertzberg  has 
made  him  wait  for  hours  in  his  antechamber,  has  re- 
ceived and  kept  him  standing,  spoken  to  him  but  a  very 
short  time,  and  dismissed  him  with  airs  which  are  only 
proper  to  give  offense.  Welner  vowed  his  destruction, 
and  he  is  seconded  by  Bishopswerder. 

Such  at  least  are  probabilities,  according  to  every 
acceptation  of  the  word  influence;  and  I  should  have 
divined  them  to-day  from  the  very  politeness  of  Hertz- 
berg. He  gave  a  grand  dinner  to  foreigners,  among 
whom,  for  once,  Comte  d'Esterno  and  myself  were  invited. 
His  attention  seemed  all  directed  to  us.  Such  proceed- 
ings are  awkward  and  mean.  This  mixture  of  stiffness 
and  twining  is  a  strange  singularity  by  which  half -formed 
characters  ruin  themselves.  Machiavel  rightly  affirms 
that  *  all  the  evil  in  the  world  originates  in  not  being 
sufficiently  good,  or  sufficiently  wicked."  Whether  my 
conjectures  are  or  are  not  true,  still  it  is  certain  Count 
Hertzberg  has  been  very  dryly  and  positively  forbidden 
all  interference,  direct  or  indirect,  in  the  affairs  of  Hol- 
land, from  which  country  Callenberg  does  not  appear  to 
have  brought  any  remarkable  intelligence.  He  is  really 
come  to  obtain  admission  into  the  Prussian  service,  and 
his  letters  were  only  recommendatory. 

It  is  not  the  influence  of  Hertzberg  that  prevents  the 
recall  of  Thulemeyer,  but  that  of  Count  Finckenstein. 
The  mother  of  the  envoy  has  had  a  lasting  and  tender 
friendship  for  the  Count ;  and  indeed  it  was  her  husband 
who  procured  the  Count  a  place  in  the  Ministry.  In  fact 
it  appears  to  me  to  be  a  matter  of  little  moment,  for 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  187 

the  present,  whether  Thulemeyer  should  or  should  not 
be  recalled.  His  embassy  ended  on  the  arrival  of  Goertz, 
nor  do  I  believe  he  sends  any  dispatches. 

The  destiny  of  Launay  was  decided  the  day  before 
yesterday  by  a  very  severe  letter.  He  is  no  longer  al- 
lowed to  act,  and  they  offer  him  a  pension  of  only  two 
thousand  crowns  to  retire  on,  with  the  proviso  that  he 
shall  remain  in  the  Prussian  States.  It  must  be  owned 
his  estimate  is  a  chef-d'oeuvre  of  egotism  and  folly,  and 
that  he  might  be  completely  refuted;  although  the  me- 
morial of  the  commissioners  who  have  undertaken  his 
refutation  is  a  pitable  performance.  He  has  proved  two 
facts,  the  one  of  which  is  curious,  and  the  other  decisive 
against  his  own  administration.  First,  that,  in  the  space 
of  nineteen  years,  he  has  brought  into  the  King's  coffers 
a  surplus  of  42,689,000  crowns  of  the  empire,  exclusive 
of  the  fixed  revenue,  which  annually  amounted  to  five 
millions  of  crowns.  What  dreadful  oppression!  The 
second,  that  the  collecting  of  the  customs  is  an  annual  ex- 
pense of  more  than  1,400,000  crowns,  which,  on  a  first 
view  of  the  business  to  be  transacted,  and  of  local  cir- 
cumstances, might  at  least  be  reduced  two-thirds.  But 
not  one  man  is  at  this  moment  employed  who  appears  to 
understand  the  elements  of  his  profession.  It  is  a  fact  that 
they  have  not  yet  been  able  to  make  any  general  state- 
ment of  debtor  and  creditor,  nor  to  class  any  single 
branch  of  the  revenue;  so  that  there  is  not  one  object, 
not  even  the  King's  dinner,  which  is  yet  regulated. 

This  is  a  chaos,  but  it  is  a  chaos  at  rest.  Finance, 
military  and  civil,  are  each  alike  in  a  state  of  stagnation ; 
and  such  a  state  in  general  would  indeed  be  better 
than  the  rage  of  governing  too  much,  in  a  country 
with  a  fixed  constitution,  in  which  individual  prudence 
might  preponderate  over  public  folly.  But  men  are  here 
so  accustomed  to  see  their  King  active,  or  rather  exclu- 
sively active;  they  are  so  little  in  the  habit  of  doing 
what  he  leaves  undone,  though,  having  once  issued  his 
orders,  they  very  well  understand  the  art  of  deceiving 
him;  they  even  think  so  little  of  laying  any  proposals 
before  him,  that  the  stagnation  is  a  real  clog  on  the 
machine.  But  how  injurious  may  this  clog  become  in  a 


i88  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

kingdom  which  rests  on  so  brittle  a  basis,  though  in- 
habited, indeed,  by  a  people  so  tardy,  so  heavy,  so 
unimpassioned,  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  a  sudden  shock 
should  happen  ?  The  vessel,  however,  must  continue  to 
sink,  more  or  less  sensibly,  if  some  pilot  does  not  come 
on  board,  although  she  will  not  suddenly  founder. 

Wait  we  must;  it  would  be  an  act  of  temerity  to 
attempt  to  look  into  this  darkness  visible.  I  repeat,  we 
must  wait  before  we  can  know  whether  the  King  will, 
or  will  not,  have  the  courage  to  take  a  Prime  Minister. 
Such  an  appointment  would  be  equal  to  a  revolution; 
and,  well  or  ill,  would  change  the  whole  face  of  affairs. 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick  is  the  person  who  ought  to 
be  narrowly  watched,  if  we  wish  to  foretell  the  fate  of 
this  Government;  although  he  should  not  be  the  person 
appointed,  and  should  there  be  any  appearance  of  a  ship- 
wreck. This  Prince  is  only  fifty,  and  is  indisputably 
ambitious.  Should  he  ever  resolve  on  hazardous  and 
daring  designs,  and  should  he  no  longer  depend  on 
Prussia,  he  would  shake  all  the  German  combinations  as 
the  north  wind  shakes  the  reed.  His  manners  and  his 
prudence  are  incompatible  with  the  English  party. 
Neither  can  England  act  on  the  Continent,  except  acci- 
dentally. But  I  can  imagine  circumstances  under  which 
I  think  him  capable  of  going  over  to  the  Emperor,  who 
would  receive  him  with  open  arms.  And  what  might 
not  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  perform  at  the  head  of  the 
Austrian  army  ?  How  great  would  be  the  danger  of  Ger- 
many !  How  vast  a  prospect  for  him  whose  passions  might 
be  unbridled,  should  he  be  obliged  to  act  a  desperate  part ; 
for  he  almost  hates  his  sons,  unless  it  be  his  youngest,  who 
promises  not  to  be  so  stupid  as  the  others. 

The  best  manner  of  securing  him  has  been  missed, 
which  would  have  been  to  place  him  unconditionally  at 
the  head  of  the  Germanic  Confederation.  Should  he  de- 
sert it,  I  greatly  fear  he  will  be  its  destroyer. 

Baron  H is  arrived,  and  has  not  been  received 

by  the  King  in  a  manner  equal  to  his  expectations.  A 
certain  musical  demoniac,  named  Baron  Bagge,  is  also 
at  Berlin.  I  imagine  they  are  all  in  too  much  haste. 
The  King  is  in  the  high  fervor  of  the  German  system, 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  189 

and  anxious  to  have  it  known  that  the  ship  is  to  be  dif- 
ferently trimmed.  Since  his  accession,  the  banker  of  La 
Valmour  has  received  orders  to  send  in  his  account,  that 
it  may  be  discharged,  and  to  stop  all  future  payments 
to  that  girl  who  had  formerly  so  much  power  over  him. 
It  is  said  he  is  to  return  from  Potsdam  on  the  third,  and 
I  imagine  it  will  be  found  that  he  goes  there  to  the 
chase.  The  Prince  of  Dessau  is  to  arrive  there  to- 
morrow evening,  and  I  have  no  doubt  there  is  to  be  a 
calling  of  the  faithful. 


LETTER   XL  I. 

October  3oth,  1786. 

AT  THE  request  of  Struensee,  I  have  sent  him  the  fol- 
lowing information:  First,  on  the  possibility  of 
public  loans  to  France,  and,  secondly,  on  the  treaty 
of  commerce,  and  on  the  manner  of  placing  money  in 
the  French  funds. 

There  are  two  species  of  public  funds  in  France :  those 
the  interest  of  which  is  fixed  and  certain,  and  which 
does  not  vary  with  circumstances;  and  those  which  pro- 
duce dividends,  or  a  participation  of  gain,  subject  to 
vicissitudes  and  to  rise  or  fall. 

The  public  and  favored  companies  principally  appertain 
to  this  last  class, —  such  as  the  Caisse  d'Escompte,  the 
Paris  waterworks,  and  French  East  India  Company;  the 
prices  of  stock  in  which  have  successively,  or  all  together, 
been  agitated  by  every  frenzy  of  stockjobbing.  All  true 
estimate  of  their  real  value  and  their  effective  gains  has 
been,  as  it  were,  lost,  that  men  might  yield  to  the  rage 
of  gambling  in  funds  which  never  could  be  reduced  to 
any  exact  valuation.  These  jobbers  have  been  less  oc- 
cupied by  endeavors  to  reduce  the  price  of  shares  to 
their  true  value  than  artfully  to  affect  their  price,  by  dis- 
putes and  pretended  reasonings  on  the  impossibility  of 
delivering  all  the  shares  that  had  been  sold.  Monopoly 
has  succeeded  to  monopoly,  association  to  association ;  some 
to  raise,  others  to  lower  the  price;  to  effect  which  every 
imaginary  species  of  deceit,  cabal,  and  cunning  has  been 
practiced;  and,  though  this  gambling  mania  has  not  con- 
tinued more  than  two  years,  many  people  have  already 
been  ruined,  and  many  others  dishonored,  by  taking  shel- 
ter under  the  laws  to  elude  their  engagements. 

The    other    species   of    public   funds,  and  the  only  one 

perhaps  which  merits  the  name,  consists  in  contracts,  and 

royal  effects,  properly  so  called.     The  contracts  yield  an 

interest  of   from  five  and  a  half    to   six   per   cent   at  the 

(190) 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  19! 

utmost.  One  only  fund,  the  stock  of  which  is  paid  at 
sight,  is  more  productive.  This  is  the  loan  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  millions.  Shares  are  sold,  at  present, 
at  an  advance  of  but  two  per  cent,  although  there  are 
nine  months'  interest  due,  and  the  real  interest  amounts 
to  nearly  seven  per  cent.  The  stock  cannot  remain  long 
at  this  price,  and,  whether  the  purchasers  wish  to  be  per- 
manent stockholders,  or  only  to  speculate  for  some  months, 
this  loan  merits  a  preference  to  any  other.  Its  advan- 
tages annually  increase,  since,  while  receiving  a  uniform 
interest  of  five  per  cent,  a  part  of  the  capital  is  to  be 
periodically  repaid.  In  January,  1787  and  1788,  these  re- 
imbursements are  to  be  made  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  per 
cent  on  the  capital  advanced.  They  are  afterward  to 
proceed  to  pay  off  twenty  per  cent,  and,  at  intervals  of 
three  years  to  twenty-five,  thirty,  thirty-five,  forty,  forty- 
five,  fifty  per  cent,  till,  in  the  last  year,  the  whole  will 
be  repaid,  independent  of  the  interest  of  five  per  cent 
to,  and  including,  the  years  of  reimbursement,  the  last 
year  of  payment  only  excepted.  The  stockholders  may 
either  have  bills  payable  at  sight,  according  to  the  origi- 
nal plan,  or,  if  they  please,  may  receive  contracts  in 
their  stead,  without  any  change  taking  place  in  the  order 
of  reimbursement. 

Those  who  buy  in  with  a  design  of  remaining  stock- 
holders, must  prefer  contracts,  because  these  are  liable 
neither  to  be  stolen,  burned,  nor  destroyed.  Those  who 
purchase  stock  on  speculation,  intending  to  sell  out, 
should  rather  receive  bills,  because  the  transfer  would 
then  be  subject  to  none  of  the  delays  of  office. 

We  ought  to  regard  the  public  loans  of  France  as  at 
an  end,  all  the  debts  of  the  war  being  paid,  so  that  if  any 
loans  henceforth  should  take  place,  they  can  probably  be 
only  for  small  sums*  to  pay  off  the  annual  reimburse- 
ments with  which  the  finances  will,  for  five  or  six  years 
to  come,  be  burdened.  But  these  loans  can  only  offer 
trifling  advantages  to  the  moneyed  men.  The  rate  of 
interest  must  have  a  natural  tendency  to  fall,  because  of 
the  general  prosperity  of  the  kingdom,  and,  consequently, 

*  The  world  at  that  time  was  ignorant  of,  nor  could  it  divine,  the 
sublime  invention  of  gradual  and  successive  loans. 


192  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

the  loan  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  millions  pre- 
sents the  probability  of  rising  in  price,  which  rise  is  each 
day  liable  to  take  place,  and  which  variation  cannot  be 
profited  by,  unless  stock  is  immediately  purchased.  This 
probability  might  even  be  called  a  certainty,  when,  on 
the  one  part,  we  recollect  the  nature  of  the  loan,  which 
is  the  most  wise,  solid,  and  advantageous  to  the  moneyed 
men,  and  in  every  respect  the  best  that  has  ever  been 
imagined;  and,  on  the  other,  the  concurrence  of  circum- 
stances, which,  all  uniting,  lead  us  to  presume  that  the 
credit  of  France,  and  the  public  confidence  in  its  royal 
effects,  must  daily  increase. 


ON  THE  COMMERCIAL  TREATY. 

It  appears  that  the  Treaty  of  Commerce  is  highly  ac- 
ceptable to  both  parties.  The  English  perceive  in  it  a 
vast  market  for  their  woolen  cloths,  wrought  cottons,  and 
hardware;  we  depend  on  the  great  exportation  of  our 
wines,  linens,  and  cambrics,  and  probably  both  nations 
are  right,  but  under  certain  modifications,  the  value  of 
which  can  only  be  taught  by  time. 

The  Treaty,  in  general,  seems  to  have  held  a  principle 
as  sacred  which  has  too  often  been  misunderstood,  which 
is,  that  moderate  duties  are  the  sole  means  of  preserving 
the  revenue,  and  preventing  illicit  trade.  Thus  the  Eng- 
lish merchandise  is  rated  at  from  ten  to  twelve  per  cent. 
Should  the  advantage  for  some  years  appear  to  be  wholly 
on  the  side  of  the  English,  still  it  is  evident  the  French 
trade  will  gain  ground,  since  nothing  can  prevent  our 
manufacturers  gradually  imitating  the  products  of  Eng- 
lish industry,  whereas,  Nature  having  refused  soil  and 
climate  to  England,  our  wines  cannot  be  made  there,  and, 
in  this  respect,  the  English  must  always  depend  on  us. 

True  it  is  that  the  wines  of  Portugal  will  continue  to 
be  drunk  in  England  in  great  quantities,  but  the  rising 
generation  will  prefer  the  wines  of  France.  Of  this,  Ire- 
land affords  a  proof,  in  which  ten  times  the  quantities  of 
French  wines  are  drunk  in  comparison  with  the  wines  of 
Portugal.  The  French  wines,  henceforth,  are  only  to  pay 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  193 

duties  equivalent  to  those  which  the  wines  of  Portugal  at 
present  pay  in  England,  that  is  to  say,  forty  pounds 
sterling  per  ton,  or  about  one  shilling  per  bottle.  Our 
wines  of  Medoc  may  there  be  sold  cheap,  and  will  be 
preferred  to  the  wines  of  Portugal.  The  English,  it  is 
true,  are  allowed  to  lower  the  present  duties  on  the  wines 
of  Portugal,  but  they  will  fear  to  diminish  them  too  sen- 
sibly, lest  they  should  injure  the  revenue  arising  from 
their  beer,  which  is  the  most  essential  of  their  excise 
duties,  and  annually  produces  more  than  1,800,000  pounds 
sterling. 

The  Treaty,  in  fact,  will  incontestably  be  advantageous 
to  both  countries.  It  will  procure  an  increase  of  enjoy- 
ment to  the  people,  and  of  revenue  to  their  respective 
monarchs.  Its  tendency  is  to  render  the  English  and 
French  more  friendly,  and  in  general  it  is  founded  on 
those  liberal  principles  which  are  worthy  two  such  great 
nations,  and  of  which  France  ought  to  be  first  to  give  an 
example  since,  of  all  countries  on  earth,  it  would,  from 
its  natural  advantages,  be  the  greatest  gainer,  should 
such  principles  be  universally  established  in  the  commer- 
cial world. 

13 

\ 


LETTER    XLII. 

October  jist,  1786. 
******* 

THEY  have  also  affirmed  (that  is,  Prince  Ferdinand  has) 
that  it  was  I  who  refuted  the  estimate  *  of  Launay. 
From  that  moment  I  have  daily  left  my  card  at 
the  house  of  Launay,  and  have  declared  that  to  torment 
people  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  thing-  so  unnecessary  that, 
exclusive  of  the  cowardice  of  wantonly  striking  a  man 
under  misfortunes,  none  but  a  fool  could  have  invented 
so  silly  and  malicious  a  tale. 

On  the  reply  to  the  refutation  of  his  estimate,  Launay 
received  so  severe  a  letter  that  he  immediately  demanded 
permission  to  retire.  The  King  answered  this  should  be 
granted  him,  when  the  commission  should  have  no  more 
need  of  his  assistance. 

It  is  loudly  rumored  here,  after  having  been  long 
whispered,  that  a  treaty  is  concerting  between  Russia, 
Austria,  and  Prussia;  the  pretext  for  which  is  the  paci- 
fication of  Holland.  I  own  that  at  present  I  do  not  see 
the  least  probability  of  truth  in  the  report.  Neither  the 
King,  nor  any  one  of  his  Ministers,  appears  to  me  to 
have  an  understanding  sufficiently  enlarged  for  such  a 
project.  Not  but  we  most  assuredly  ought  to  pay  very 
serious  attention  to  the  rumor. 

As  I  was  finishing  my  phrase,  I  received  information 
that  Dr.  Roggerson,  the  favorite  physician  of  the  Czar- 
ina, the  same  whom  she  sent  to  Vienna,  and  of  whom  I 
spoke  to  you  in  my  former  dispatches,  is  just  arrived. 
Now  or  never  is  the  time  for  an  EYE  WAR;  but  this  kind 
of  tilting  can  be  performed  only  by  ambassadors;  they 
alone  possess  the  means,  were  we  to  exclude  every  other 
except  the  all-puissance  of  supper  parties,  which  are  the 
very  sieves  of  secrets. 

*  Compte  rendu. 
(194) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  195 

Roggerson  returns  from  England  by  way  of  Amster- 
dam, and  Berlin  is  directly  in  his  road.  Still,  I  repeat, 
we  ought,  watchfully  to  observe  Vienna  and  Petersburg, 
—  convinced  as  I  am  at  present  that  the  Emperor  is 
only  spreading  nets  for  this  country.  I  must  further  add 
that  I  imagine  I  very  clearly  perceive  the  Gallomania  of 
Prince  Henry  is  on  the  decline.  But  this  to  him  will  be 
of  no  advantage,  for  it  is  to  oppose  the  Prince  that  they 
are  Anti-Gallican  here.  It  is  not  to  oppose  the  French 
that  he  is  opposed.  Prince  Henry  is  turbulent,  false,  and 
perfidious.  He  formerly  was  successful  at  Petersburg. 
He  may  flatter  himself  that,  should  there  be  any  need  of 
that  Court,  he  may  be  employed;  and  never  will  there 
be  a  better  resemblance  of  the  morality  of  the  late 
Erostratus.  * 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick  arrived  on  Saturday  at  Pots- 
dam. This  is  a  kind  of  secret  at  Berlin.  Nothing  had 
been  done  on  Sunday,  except  listening  to  music  and 
looking  at  reviews;  but  two  couriers  were  certainly  sent 
off,  from  the  Sunday  to  the  Tuesday.  I  know  nothing 
more.  I  am  in  want  of  pecuniary  and  other  aid.  The 
domestic  disorder  is  a  thing  so  inconvenient,  some  of  the 
favorites  are  so  interested  to  put  an  end  to  it,  or  to  cer- 
tain parts  of  it,  since  they  have  not  a  sixpence,  and  it  is 
carried  to  such  excess  in  the  palace,  that  I  cannot  help 
supposing  there  is  some  grand  object  which  employs  the 
whole  attention  of  the  King,  and  the  few  moments  he 
can  prevail  on  himself  to  dedicate  to  business. 

There  has  been  a  quarrel  in  the  household,  in  which 
the  master  has  committed  some  violence  on  himself.  One 
of  his  favorite  ushers,  Rumpel,  a  man  naturally  very  in- 
solent, insomuch  that  at  a  review  he  once  struck  a  gentle- 
man without  any  serious  notice  being  taken  of  the  affair, 
has  had  a  very  passionate  brawl  with  Lindenau,  the  new 
first  usher,  who  is  a  Saxon,  and  the  friend  of  Bishops- 
werder,  who  procured  him  the  place.  Lindenau  put  the 
insolent  favorite  under  arrest,  and  gave  an  account  of  his 

*  Meaning  the  late  King,  who  fired  not  only  temples,  but  would 
have  willingly  extended  the  conflagration  to  the  universe,  could  he 
have  thrown  on  the  oil  without  being  scorched  by  the  gust  of  the 
flames. 


196  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

proceeding  to  the  King.  The  Monarch  started  with  as- 
tonishment; but,  after  a  momentary  silence,  he  not  only 
approved  of  the  act  of  Lindenau,  but  confirmed  the  arrest 
in  a  very  cool  manner,  and  for  an  indefinite  term.  By 
this  he  has  given  some  energy  to  the  head  servants,  and 
somewhat  tempered  the  insolence  of  the  subalterns. 

Discord,  on  the  other  hand,  reigns  among  the  favorites. 
Goltz  and  Bishopswerder  had  a  very  serious  dispute  in 
Silesia.  The  King,  having  made  some  new  appointments, 
in  favor  of  I  know  not  whom,  Goltz  kept  so  cool  a  silence 
that  the  King  insisted  on  knowing  the  reason  of  this  tacit 
disapprobation.  Goltz  replied:  "Your  Majesty  is  over- 
flowing the  land  with  Saxons,  as  if  you  had  not  a  subject 
of  your  own."  Bishopswerder  came  in,  a  few  moments 
afterward,  and  proposed  another  Saxon,  on  which  the 
King  very  abruptly  exclaimed,  <( Zounds!  you  never  pro- 
pose anybody  but  Saxons."  Probably,  in  the  explanation 
which  succeeded  this  pettishness,  the  King  told  what 
Goltz  had  said.  Certain  it  is  that  Bishopswerder  and 
Goltz  have  been  very  warm.  The  wall  is  whitewashed 
over,  but  we  may  with  good  reason  conclude  that  Goltz, 
the  Tartar,  and  Bishopswerder,  the  debonair,  neither  do, 
nor  ever  will,  cordially  esteem  each  other.  It  was  the 
latter  who  brought  the  insignificant  Duke  of  Holsteinbeck 
hither,  and  who  is  endeavoring  to  advance  him  to  the 
command  of  the  guards,  that  he  may  deprive  the  former 
favorite,  Wartensleben,  of  the  place. 

To  descend  a  step  lower,  it  appears  that  Chauvier  is 
regaining  credit.  He  imagined,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
reign,  that  the  surliness  of  the  secretary  would  promote 
his  interest.  It  did  the  reverse.  Apparently  he  has  altered 
his  route,  and  is  in  the  pandar  department,  submits  to 
subaltern  complaisance,  and  even  to  act  the  spy,  in  which 
he  finds  his  account. 

The  King  returns  on  Wednesday,  as  it  is  said,  to 
depart  again  on  Thursday.  I  cannot  understand  what 
this  means,  unless  it  should  be  to  keep  Prince  Henry  at 
a  distance,  without  openly  quarreling.  The  Prince  will 
remain  ignorant  of  affairs  by  not  knowing  where  to  find 
the  King.  The  Minister,  Blumenthal,  has  rather  reso- 
lutely demanded  his  dismission,  complaining  that  his 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  197 

Majesty,  having  bedizened  some  of  his  servants,  who 
were  not  of  so  long  a  standing  as  himself,  with  ribbons, 
had  not  bestowed  on  him  that  mark  of  honor.  His 
retreat,  which  is  not  granted,  is  a  matter  of  little 
moment;  though  it  is  affirmed  the  King  could  not  be 
better  pleased,  for  he  would  then  have  a  place  to  bestow. 
I  have  heard,  and  from  a  good  quarter,  that  this  place, 
or  rather  a  place  of  principal  trust,  will  very  soon  be 
given  to  a  remarkable  man  to  the  dissatisfaction  of 
everybody.  I  can  neither  divine  who  this  man  is,  nor 
believe  the  King  has  the  fortitude  to  dissatisfy  every- 
body. The  credit  of  Hertzberg,  if  not  ruined,  is  still  on 
the  decline.  It  is  certain  that  he  has  not  dined  with  the 
King  since  the  return  from  Silesia. 

Welner  is  at  Potsdam. 

Do  not  suffer  your  Ambassador  to  persuade  you  that 
there  is  nothing  to  apprehend  from  Austria;  I  am  con- 
vinced the  King  is  undetermined,  that  the  Emperor  is 
sounding  him,  and  that  there  is  something  in  agitation 
with  which  we  are  unacquainted.  For  my  own  part, 
nothing  would  appear  less  extraordinary  to  me.  I  own 
I  am  surprised  at  all  the  intelligence  I  obtain,  however 
little  that  may  be.  But  nothing  can  here  be  kept  secret 
from  a  French  Ambassador,  who  is  in  want  of  neither 
money  nor  industry. 

I  have  just  been  told  that  General  Rodig  has  sent  a 
challenge  to  Count  Goertz.  I  have  not  learned  what  was 
the  cause  of  quarrel,  and  the  truth  of  the  news  scarcely 
appears  to  be  probable ;  yet  it  comes  from  a  person  who 
should  know,  though  he  is  a  young  man. 


LETTER  XLIII. 

November  4th,  1786. 

ANEW  letter,  excessively  rigorous,  and  tolerably 
incoherent,  has  suspended  Launay  in  the  exercise 
of  all  his  functions.  Yet  I  scarcely  can  believe  it 
is  intended  to  sully  the  beginning  of  a  reign  by  useless 
cruelty.  The  victim  is  immolated  to  the  nation  the 
moment  the  man  is  no  longer  in  place.  The  remainder 
would  only  be  the  explosion  of  gratuitous  hatred,  since 
the  unfortunate  Launay  no  longer  can  give  umbrage  to 
anyone.  Verder  is  placed  at  the  head  of  the  customs. 
We  shall  see  what  the  new  established  order  will  pro- 
duce ;  or  rather,  whether  they  will  know  how  to  establish 
any  new  order.  In  the  meantime  the  discharge  of  forty 
Frenchmen  is  determined  on,  in  petto.  But  I  cannot 
perceive  that  these  kind  of  Sicilian  vespers  are  likely 
even  to  gain  the  public  favor.  The  theater  here  is  not 
sufficiently  vast  to  conceal  from  the  pit  what  is  passing 
behind  the  scenes.  There  is  scarcely  any  illusion  pos- 
sible, except  that  of  actually  doing  good.  I  shall  endeavor 
to  save  Launay,  by  causing  Prince  Henry  to  say,  who 
has  at  least  preserved  the  privilege  of  uttering  all  he 
pleases,  that  hitherto  the  King  has  really  acted  in  this 
business  as  the  man  of  the  nation;  but  that,  should  he 
go  further,  he  will  become  the  man  of  the  persecutors 
of  Launay;  that  there  are  public  murmurs  which  affirm 
he  has  espoused  their  hatred,  etc.  Certain  it  is  that  the 
repetition  of  the  self-important  /,  in  Launay's  estimate, 
has  put  the  King  out  of  humor,  and  even  in  a  passion. 
His  Majesty  arrived  yesterday,  and  returned  this  morn- 
ing. This  seems  to  be  an  episode  in  the  romance  of 
Voss  which  approaches  the  denouement,  and  which  is  sus- 
pended to  obtain  the  three  following  articles:  (i)  two  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns  for  her  portion.  The  King  refuses 
(or  will  only  count  out  a  thousand  crowns  per  month,  so 
that  the  payment  will  not  be  completed  in  less  than  six- 
(198) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  199 

teen  years  and  eight  months,  which  will  render  the  sum 
a  little  problematic) ;  (2)  a  left-handed  marriage  (to  this 
he  consents,  but  the  lady  finds  that  a  very  equivocal 
kind  of  circumstance),  or  (3)  to  marry  her  to  a  man 
who  shall  depart  on  the  bridal  day  as  Ambassador  to 
Sweden  (there  is  no  certainty  of  finding  a  man  suffi- 
ciently base,  in  that  class  which  should  rank  him  among 
ambassadors).  Mademoiselle  avows  that,  without  being 
amorous,  she  is  rendered  exceedingly  sensible  by  a  three 
years'  siege.  But  what  shall  become  of  her,  of  her  uncle, 
her  family  ?  What  place  shall  she  hold  in  the  public 
opinion,  in  city,  and  Court  ?  Such  is  the  purport  of  the 
negotiation  conducted  by  Bishopswerder.  I  do  not  sup- 
pose him  young  enough  to  be  the  King's  substitute;  so 
that  the  speculation  does  not  appear  to  be  very  certain. 

As  to  the  King,  there  is,  indeed,  some  little  curiosity, 
a  degree  of  obstinacy,  and  somewhat  of  vanity,  but  still 
greater  want  of  a  companion  with  whom  he  may  be  as 
much  of  a  gossip,  may  loll,  and  dress  as  slovenly  as  he 
pleases.  The  circumstance  that  shackles  the  negotiation 
is  that  Rietz  and  her  tribe  must  evacuate  the  country, 
and  the  King  is  exceedingly  attached  to  her  son.  It  is 
necessary,  however,  to  add  to  all  this  that  Mademoiselle 
Voss  relates  herself  all  the  tales  repeated  in  public,  and 
even  of  the  most  secret  courtiers,  which  concern  herself; 
and  this  may  render  the  probability  of  these  conjectures 
suspicious. 

The  King,  it  is  said,  returns  to  Potsdam  till  the  8th. 
He  is  not  there  so  entirely  occupied  by  business  or  secret 
pleasure  as  to  exclude  all  company.  M.  Arnim  is  one  of 
his  society;  a  kind  of  unfinished  man  of  the  world,  who 
has  acquired  many  friends  by  the  affability  and  amenity 
of  his  manners  and  his  great  fortune,  and  whose  under- 
standing, sufficiently  upright  and  little  brilliant,  being 
timid  and  wavering,  neither  gives  umbrage  to  the  King 
nor  inspires  him  with  fears.  In  all  despotic  countries, 
one  grand  means  of  good  fortune  is  mediocrity  of  talents. 
If  it  be  generally  true  that  no  positive  assertions  ought 
to  be  made  in  the  presence  of  princes,  and  that  hesita- 
tion and  deliberation  always  please  them,  I  think  it  pe- 
culiarly so  applied  to  Frederick  William  II. 


200  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

It  is  affirmed  the  assignments  are  made  out,  and  that 
this  has  been  the  labor  of  Welner  alone.  For  this  rea- 
son all  the  ministers,  Schulemburg  excepted  (perhaps 
because  of  his  connections  with  Count  Finckenstein,  whom 
the  inauguration  of  Mademoiselle  Voss  must  render  power- 
ful), are  restless  and  terrified.  Some  of  them  have  not 
yet  given  in  the  least  account  to  the  King.  Estimate  by 
this  the  state  of  a  country  in  which  everything  depends 
on  the  industry  of  the  King.  Be  not  astonished  that  so 
little  mention  is  made  of  business,  for  no  business  is 
transacted;  the  affair  of  Launay  is  the  only  one  which 
is  pursued  with  activity  and  hatred ;  everything  else  slum- 
bers. 

A  person  who  comes  from  Russia  assures  me  that  the 
Empress  has  long  omitted  going  any  more  to  the  Senate, 
and  that  she  habitually  intoxicates  herself  with  Champagne 
and  Hungary  wine  (this  is  contradictory  to  every  account 
I  have  hitherto  received) ;  that  Potemkin  elevates  his 
ambition  to  the  grandest  projects,  and  that  it  is  openly 
affirmed  he  will  either  be  made  Emperor  or  be  beheaded, 
at  the  accession  of  the  Grand  Duke.  This  artful  and 
decisive  man,  possessed  of  uncommon  fortitude,  has  not  a 
single  friend;  and  yet  the  number  of  his  creatures  and 
creditors  who  with  him  would  lose  their  all,  is  so  great 
in  every  class  of  the  people,  that  his  party  is  extremely 
formidable.  He  amasses  immense  treasures,  in  a  country 
where  everything  is  venal.  Accustomed  never  to  pay  his 
debts,  and  disposing  of  everything  in  Russia,  he  does  not 
find  any  difficulty  in  accumulating  enormous  sums.  He 
has  an  apartment,  the  key  of  which  he  keeps  himself, 
partitioned  out  from  top  to  bottom,  and  divided  into  a 
great  number  of  boxes,  filled  with  bank  bills  of  Russia, 
Denmark,  and  particularly  of  Holland  and  England.  A 
person  in  his  employment  proposed  to  him  the  purchase 
of  a  library,  appertaining  to  a  great  lord  that  had  lately 
died.  Potemkin  took  him  into  his  bank-bill  apartment, 
where  the  only  answer  he  made  was  asking  whether  he 
imagined  this  library  was  of  equal  value  with  the  one 
proposed.  Possessed  of  such  pecuniary  aid,  he  has  no  need 
of  any  other  to  perform  whatever  he  shall  dare  to  under- 
take at  Petersburg. 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  201 

I  must  here  mention  that  Doctor  Roggerson,  who  yes- 
terday departed  on  his  return  to  Petersburg,  affirms  that 
no  person  in  Europe  leads  a  more  sober  or  regular  life 
than  Catherine  II.  He,  however,  has  been  eight  months 
absent. 

I  have  collected  some  particulars  that  are  rather 
Curious,  relative  to  the  usurpation  made  on  the  ducal 
rights  of  postage  in  Courland,  of  which  I  have  spoken 
to  you  in  my  former  dispatches.  This  is  an  object  of 
some  importance,  in  so  small  a  State,  independent  of  the 
inquisition  that  thence  results,  and  of  the  infraction  of 
the  rights  of  nations.  This  branch  of  revenue  does  not 
annually  amount  to  less  than  a  hundred  and  sixty  thou- 
sand livres.  But  the  following  is  a  singular  circumstance, 
which  characterizes  Russian  politics. 

Not  to  commit  an  act  of  violence  too  openly,  and  to 
avoid  marching  troops,  which  always  draws  the  attention 
of  neighboring  Powers,  the  Court  of  Russia  proposed,  or 
rather  demanded,  an  amicable  conference  between  the 
deputies  of  Courland  and  commissaries,  named  to  that 
effect;  and  appointed  their  sittings  to  be  at  Riga,  a 
Russian  fortress  on  the  frontiers  of  Courland,  under  the 
presidency  of  the  Governor  of  that  town.  Four  deputies 
from  Courland  repaired  thither  at  the  time  appointed; 
and  the  Governor  signified  to  them  that  he  had  received 
orders  from  his  Sovereign  to  arrest  them  if  they  did  not 
sign  an  act,  which  he  produced  ready  drawn  up,  by 
which  the  ducal  rights  of  the  postage  of  Courland  were 
transferred  to  Russia.  The  deputies,  should  they  refuse, 
having  no  other  prospect  before  their  eyes  but  Siberia, 
purely  and  simply  affixed  their  signatures:  after  this, 
several  stipulations,  which  alienated  lesser  rights  and 
even  portions  of  the  borders  of  Courland,  were  in  like 
manner  presented  and  sanctioned.  One  of  the  most  art- 
ful, and  the  most  important,  of  these  stipulations  is  that 
which  relates  to  reclaiming  the  subjects  of  Russia,  who 
may  be  found  in  Courland,  and  in  which  the  Cabinet  of 
Petersburg  have  included  the  very  descendants  of  those 
who  may  have  been  naturalized  for  ages.  It  is  very 
evident  that  this  concession  leads  to  unlimited  abuse,  and 
innumerable  disputes,  which  will  be  more  injurious  to 


202  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

Courland  than  the  most  burdensome  tax  could  be;  for 
nothing  can  prevent  the  Russian  superintendents  from 
feigning,  whenever  they  please,  the  existence  of  one  or 
of  several  of  such  or  such  Russian  subjects,  in  such  or 
such  a  part  of  Courland,  or  from  taking  the  refusal  of 
restitution  for  granted,  in  order  to  lay  the  country  under 
the  contribution  of  an  equal  number  of  hundreds  of 
ducats  (the  sum  fixed  by  the  stipulation  for  each  Mus- 
covite whom  the  Courlanders  shall  refuse  to  deliver  up), 
whenever  the  Russian  treasury,  or  the  Russian  delegate, 
shall  stand  in  need  of,  or  whenever  the  country  shall  be 
enabled  to  pay,  such  sums  of  money.  I  again  repeat 
that  similar  practices,  openly  in  Courland,  in  other  parts 
more  secretly,  similar  projects  I  say,  are  carried  on  in  all 
the  countries  that  border  upon  Russia.  Let  us  return  to 
Berlin. 

Trumpel,  the  groom  whom  I  mentioned  to  you  in  my 
last,  is  discharged.  This  exertion  has  excited  much 
astonishment.  The  King  certainly  rouses  himself  as 
much  as  he  can,  that  he  may  not  be  governed,  and  this 
is  the  most  distinct  act  of  self-will  which  has  hitherto 
been  discernible  in  the  Monarch. 

On  Thursday  evening  he  supped  at  the  confidential 
table,  at  which  there  are  no  servants,  but  the  guests  are 
supplied  by  tours.'*  The  supper  was  more  than  gay. 
Ten  persons  were  present.  When  it  was  over,  the  ladies 
of  honor  were  visited,  one  after  the  other. 

Prince  Henry,  who  has  this  week  given  grand  dinners 
to  the  civil  and  military  officers  of  the  Court,  a  thing  he 
never  did  before,  supped  on  Monday  with  the  reigning 
Queen  and  her  whole  Court.  This  proves  nothing, 
except  a  desire  to  keep  up  the  appearance  of  politeness. 
I  forgot  to  say  that  he  is  to  give  a  dinner  to-morrow  to 
all  the  subalterns  of  the  regiment  of  Braun.  This  is 
gratuitous  and  ridiculous  affectation,  and  will  never  make 
his  peace  with  the  army,  by  which  he  is  truly  de- 
spised. 

*  Dumb-waiters,  or  rather  a  kind  of  machinery,  of  French  invention, 
made  to  ascend  through  the  floor,  or  pass  through  apertures  in  the 
wall,  that  the  unobserved  guests  may  indulge  in  the  most  detestable 
licentiousness. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  203 

Baron  Bagge,  after  refusing  to  pay  any  visits  here, 
even  those  that  common  decorum  required,  saying  that, 
according  to  the  manner  in  which  he  had  lived  with  the 
Heir  Apparent,  it  was  for  the  King  to  send  him  an  in- 
vitation, yesterday  received  this  invitation  to  Potsdam. 
The  incident  proves  that  music  still  is  a  passion. 

That  infamous  C has  written  to  Chauvier,  affirming 

that  he  knew,  past  all  dispute,  it  was  to  him  he  was 
indebted  for  the  obligation  of  not  being  permitted  to  see 
the  King;  that  he  was  going  into  a  country  in  which  he 
should  find  it  easy  to  injure;  and  that  he  would  use 
every  exertion  to  effect  his  ruin;  exclusive  of  the  means 
with  which  he  has  been  furnished  by  Chauvier  himself. 
Chauvier  has  acted  with  propriety,  and  laid  the  letter 
before  the  King. 

The  nocturnal  jaunts  continue.  I  still  remain  ignorant 
of  the  object  of  the  grand  motions  toward  Austria,  and 
reciprocally. 


LETTER  XLIV. 

November  yth,  1786. 

King  himself  has  interfered  to  produce  a  reconcil- 
iation between  Bishopswerder  and  Goltz,  the  Tartar. 
Peace  for  the  present,  therefore,  is  concluded;  and 
the  more  firmly,  because  that  war,  open  and  avowed, 
is  hotly  carried  on  between  the  first  favorite  and  Count 
Goertz.  There  has  been  great  difficulty  in  preventing 
them  coming  to  blows.  What  may  be  argued  of  a  King 
for  whom  they  thus  openly  contend  ?  Probably  a  regi- 
ment will  be  given  to  Goertz  to  send  him  out  of  the 
way;  but  the  payment  of  his  debts  is  the  difficulty,  for 
it  appears  that  the  last  thing  the  King  will  part  with  is 
money.  The  treatment  of  the  aids-de-camp  is  at  length 
determined  on.  Bishopswerder  has  two  thousand  crowns ; 
Goltz,  the  Tartar,  and  Bowlet  each  seventeen  hundred. 
The  head  groom,  Lindenau,  also  has  two  thousand 
crowns,  with  eight  places  of  forage,  which  may  be  esti- 
mated at  six  hundred  crowns,  and  fire  and  candle.  Be- 
hold how  the  sandy  plains  of  Brandenburg,  with  the  aid 
of  Silesia,  be  it  understood,  are  capable  of  maintaining 
an  army  of  two  hundred  thousand  men. 

The  thermometer  of  business  remains  still  at  the  same 
fixed  point.  There  is  no  riddance  of  letters;  one  cham- 
ber is  full  of  packets  that  remain  unopened.  The  State 
Minister,  Zedlis,  has  not  been  able  to  obtain  an  answer 
to  his  reports  for  more  than  three  weeks.  Everything  is 
in  arrear.  Yet  the  mode  of  living  at  Potsdam  appears 
to  have  been  tolerably  well  regulated,  though  Madame 
Rietz  has  been  there.  The  latest  hour  at  which  the 
King  has  risen  has  been  six  o'clock.  The  Prince  of 
Dessau  has  never  seen  him  before  half-past  twelve,  and 
perhaps  not  half  an  hour  each  day,  dinner  time  excepted. 
It  is  at  supper  that  the  women  make  their  appearance, 
and  that  wrinkled  cares  are  discarded. 
(204) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  205 

Welner  has  not  quitted  Potsdam,  and  two  men  are  con- 
tinually writing  in  his  apartment.  Hitherto  he  may  be 
regarded  as  the  monarch  of  domestic  affairs.  That  he  is 
neither  deficient  in  talents  nor  information  is  a  point  un- 
disputed; and  the  eternal  disorder  of  the  accounts,  added 
to  suspicion  of  the  financiers  in  power,  must  have  im- 
pelled the  King  to  have  abandoned  himself  wholly  to 
Welner,  whose  obscurity  is  his  recommendation. 

I  say  the  ETERNAL  DISORDER;  because  in  effect  Fred- 
erick William  I.,  with  whom  all  domestic  regulations 
originated,  in  which  no  alterations  were  made  by  his  son, 
kept  no  general  and  exact  accounts, —  and  acted  thus, 
systematically:  being  acquainted  himself  with  the  whole 
of  his  affairs,  as  he  would  not  suffer  any  one  of  his  Minis- 
ters to  divine  what  the  state  of  them  was,  he  made  out 
imperfect,  over-charged,  and  false  accounts.  Frederick  II., 
who  never  understood  anything  of  finance,  but  who  very 
well  knew  that  money  is  the  basis  of  all  power,  confined 
his  views  to  the  amassing  of  large  sums;  and  he  was  so 
certain  that  his  savings  were  enormous  that  he  was  satis- 
fied with  partial  accounts.  Such  an  interpretation  is  cer- 
tainly more  probable,  in  my  opinion,  than  the  imputation 
of  having  burned  the  general  state  of  debtor  and  creditor, 
with  the  malicious  intention  of  embarrassing  his  suc- 
cessor. The  present  King  wishes  for  order,  and  he  has 
reason  so  to  do;  but  it  is  an  Augean  stable,  and  I  see  no 
Hercules, —  at  least  among  those  by  whom  he  intends  to 
be  served. 

Count  Finckenstein  has  written  in  very  warm  terms  to 
the  King,  to  inform  him  that  the  provocations  of  Count 
Hertzberg  are  so  frequent  that  they  are  become  insup- 
portable ;  and  that  his  great  age  and  his  last  illness  made 
him  sincerely  desirous  of  retreat.  The  King  returned  a 
very  mild  answer,  very  obliging,  and  what  may  be  called 
apologetic;  in  which  he  earnestly  requested  him  to  re- 
main in  office,  and  promised  that  the  cause  of  his  com- 
plaints should  cease.  He  promised,  perhaps,  more  than 
he  can  perform.  Men  of  the  most  opposite  tempers 
served  together  under  Frederick  II.,  and  this  is  one  of 
the  characteristic  traits  of  his  reign.  But  it  is  no  small 
presumption  to  imitate  his  manner ;  it  cannot  be  expected 


206  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

that  such  imitation  should  succeed;  for,  in  spite  of  the 
servility  of  the  country,  liberties  are  taken  that  were  not 
permitted  under  the  late  King,  of  whom  the  world  spoke 
very  freely,  but  with  whom  no  person  was  familiar.  The 
very  Academicians  now  make  encroachments.  Three  new 
members  have  been  proposed  —  one  Boden,  an  astrono- 
mer; one  Meierotto,  the  rector  of  a  college;  and  one 
Ancillon,  a  minister  of  the  Holy  Gospel.  Admirable 
choice!  The  King  testified  his  surprise  with  asperity  at 
this  unusual  proposition,  made  without  its  being  even 
known  whether  he  did  or  did  not  intend  to  increase  the 
number  of  Academicians.  The  indiscretion  will  probably 
occasion  some  regulation.  He  has,  however,  signed  a 
large  YES  to  the  proposal  for  I  know  not  what  Druid  of 
the  name  of  Erman,  author  of  a  multitude  of  vile  ser- 
mons, and  a  refugee  history,  of  which  four  volumes  are 
already  written,  that  might  be  reduced  to  thirty  pages; 
and  who  has  been  proposed  by  the  curator  only,  Count 
Hertzberg,  without  the  question  having  been  put  to  the 
vote. 

The  Boden  of  Paris  seems  to  be  forgotten,  or  worse. 
The  King  was  told  that  he  had  written  three  letters  to 
his  Majesty  without  having  received  any  answer.  w  I 
have  no  answer  to  give;  the  fellow  came  here  without 
orders.8  Such  was  the  royal  decision!  The  King  re- 
turns to-morrow  for  a  few  days.  He  has  been  so  ac- 
customed to  run  from  place  to  place,  and  to  make  only 
a  momentary  stay,  that  the  habit  seems  to  have  become 

one  of  his  wants.  M.  de  H wrote  to  him,  three  days 

ago,  to  know  when  he  might  take  his  leave,  but  has 
received  no  answer. 

The  grand  dinner  of  Prince  Henry  to  the  regiment  of 
Braun  was  given  yesterday,  as  I  before  wrote.  All  the 
officers  and  forty  subalterns,  who  had  served  under  him 
at  the  battle  of  Prague,  sat  at  the  Prince's  table.  He 
gave  a  medal  worth  fifteen  ducats  to  each  officer,  a  ducat 
to  each  subaltern,  and  a  crown  to  each  private.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  be  more  awkwardly  ostentatious.  Had 
there  been  any  need  to  have  further  injured  himself  in 
the  King's  opinion,  he  could  not  have  found  a  better 
method;  but  this  was  completely  done  before,  and  it 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  207 

must  be  well  known  too,  for  Roggerson,  who  had  often 
visited  Prince  Henry  during  his  two  journeys  into 
Russia,  has  not  been  to  pay  him  his  respects.  The 
King  gave  him  an  audience,  it  is  said,  but  only  for  a 
few  moments. 

I  do  not  at  this  instant  recollect  the  name  of  the  per- 
son who  is  arrived  from  Vienna,  and  who  at  the  King's 
table  was  very  pleasant  at  the  Emperor's  expense,  which 
occasioned  a  coolness  in  the  King  and  some  gloominess, 
so  as  to  denote  marks  of  disapprobation  —  silent  but 
strong. 

The  new  ribbons  are  preparing.  Moral  coin  seems  to 
cost  the  King  least.  Never  was  the  remark  of  Frederick 
II.  to  Pritwitz  more  true  than  at  present.  The  latter 
complained  that  the  ribbon  had  been  bestowed  on  Braun 
before  himself.  <(  My  ribbon,*  said  the  King,  (<  is  like 
saving  grace;  it  may  be  given,  cannot  be  merited. w 

Count  Arnim  has  been  appointed  master  of  the  hounds 
and  a  Minister  of  State,  with  a  vote  and  a  seat  in  the 
grand  directory.  In  one  of  my  former  dispatches  I  have 
spoken  of  him  circumstantially.  This  is  a  pure  choice 
of  favor  (and  is  the  more  marked  because  that  the  place 
of  master  of  the  hounds,  taken  from  Schulemburg,  had 
continually  been  solicited  by  Colonel  Stein,  who  was  rather 
in  the  King's  good  graces),  but  of  favor  founded,  as  I 
imagine,  merely  on  the  pleasure  taken  in  the  company 
of  Arnim  who  is  irreproachable  in  mind  and  manners. 
It  is  only  another  person  of  incapacity  added  to  the 
Ministry. 

ROTTEN  BEFORE  RIPE.  Such  I  greatly  fear  will  be  the 
motto  of  the  Prussian  power.  But  their  millions  are 
good.  It  will,  therefore,  be  of  use  to  remit  new  prop- 
ositions for  a  loan,  if  it  be  really  intended  to  erect  a 
bank,  as  all  packets,  gazettes,  and  private  letters  affirm, 
so  that,  myself  excepted,  everybody  is  informed  of  the 
project;  for  in  my  opinion  these  would  be  of  more  im- 
portance than  the  loan  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-five 
millions,  which  the  bank  apparently  will  be  able  to  bor- 
row on  its  own  credit.  Struensee,  who  doubtless  will  be 
glad  of  this  occasion  of  rendering  himself  useful  to  the 
King,  has  in  plain  terms  asked  what  he  is  to  think  of 


208  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

the  disorder  of  the  Caisse  d'Escompte ;  of  the  letter  of  the 
Comptroller  General  to  his  administrators;  of  the  project 
of  a  bank ;  of  its  approaching  realization ;  of  the  principles 
on  which  it  is  to  be  established ;  and  especially  what  kind 
of  directors  shall  have  the  management.  He  thinks  the 
plan  good,  but  is  convinced  that  everything  depends  on 
those  who  shall  have  the  direction.  To  all  these  ques- 
tions, as  you  must  be  sensible,  I  know  not  what  to  reply ; 
yet  it  is  requisite  I  should  soon  know,  because  not  to 
mention  that  any  negotiation  of  this  kind  cannot  succeed 
here  except  by  his  aid, —  for  not  one  of  the  others  under- 
stands anything  of  such  affairs, —  he  has  a  right  to  inter- 
rogate me,  since  I  made  the  first  advances. 


LETTER  XLV. 

November  2oth,  1786. 

UNFORTUNATELY,  I  cannot  be  blind  to  what  is  here 
daily  confirmed  by  traits  which  are  each  more  pitia- 
ble than  the  others,  concerning  the  opinion  that  I 
have  so  long  forborne  to  take  of  the  man  and  of  affairs. 

The  King  has  just  bestowed  the  ribbon  of  the  Black 
Eagle  on  Anhalt.  This  gentleman  is  the  son  of  a  cook- 
maid,  and  of  a  multitude  of  fathers.  He  was  originally 
a  groom;  he  next  sold  smuggled  coffee  to  the  officers. 
I  know  not  by  what  means  he  became  what  he  is,  but  I 
know  that  his  principal  function  was  that  of  a  spy.  He  was 
afterward  placed  in  the  service  of  the  present  King 
while  Prince  of  Prussia;  and,  as  he  mingled  poisonous 
advice  and  odious  tales,  THEY  destined  him,  as  it  is 
said  (and  the  word  THEY  is  in  this  case  the  most  bitter 
of  the  enemies  of  the  late  King),  to  execute  a  crime 
which  THEY  neither  had  the  address  to  color  nor  the 
courage  to  consummate.  Anhalt  possesses  more  military 
talents  than  his  native  folly  could  promise.  His  warlike 
vocation  seems  to  be  remarkable  by  this  singular  char- 
acteristic, that  he  never  possesses  coolness  except  when 
heading  his  men.  He  has  arrived,  whether  by  these  or 
other  means,  at  the  rank  of  Lieutenant  General.  As  he 
is  without  understanding  (the  little  he  had  he  was  de- 
prived of  by  a  dreadful  fall,  for  which  he  was  obliged 
to  be  trepanned),  he  continued  in  favor. 

He  was  detested  at  Konigsberg,  where  he  commanded, 
and  this  was  a  kind  of  recommendation  to  him  at  Pots- 
dam, where  the  kingdom  endured  forty-six  years  of  dis- 
grace.* 

Some  days  before  the  King's  death,  General  Anhalt 
was  sent  for  to  Sans  Souci.  <(  You  have  lately  married 
one  of  your  daughters, w  said  the  King.  <(  Yes,  Sire,  I 

*  By  the  kingdom,  Prussia  Royal  is  meant,  for  which  province  the 
late  King  had  a  fixed  aversion. 

14  (209) 


2io  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

feel  I  have."  <(  How  much  did  you  give  with  her?  w  <(  Ten 
thousand  crowns. "  *  That  is  a  large  sum  for  you,  who 
have  nothing.*  On  the  morrow  they  were  sent  him  by 
the  King.  Anhalt  returned  into  Prussia.  His  benefactor 
died;  he  beheaded  his  portrait,  and  substituted  the  head 
of  his  successor.  The  new  King  repairs  to  Konigsberg 
to  receive  homage,  and  bestows  a  superb  box  on  An- 
halt; but,  indeed,  gives  him  notice  he  must  quit 
the  government  of  Prussia  in  two  months'  time,  that  is  to 
say,  at  present.  Anhalt,  being  at  an  auction  some  days 
since  and  seeing  a  portrait  of  the  late  King  sold  at  a  low 
price,  very  coolly  said,  <(  Right,  I'll  give  you  the  other  * 
into  the  bargain."  He  retires  with  a  pension  of  five 
thousand  crowns,  a  ribbon,  and  a  promise  of  being  em- 
ployed in  war.  This  prostitution  of  reward,  apparently 
extorted  from  weakness,  is  endeavored  to  be  excused  by 
alleging  the  fear  that  Anhalt  should  pass  into  the  service 
of  the  Emperor,  as  he  threatened  in  the  following  speech, 
which  does  not  want  dignity :  <(  If  you  refuse  me  this 
favor,  I  must  then  go  elsewhere,  and  prove  that  it  is  not 
because  of  my  want  of  merit. w  I  do  not  think  this  a  suf- 
ficient reason,  for  the  estates  he  had  purchased  near 
Magdeburg  were  a  sufficient  pledge  for  his  person. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  and,  however  singular  the  choice 
may  appear,  which  has  made  a  strong  impression  upon 
the  public,  it  must  be  allowed  that  Anhalt  is  a  great 
commander,  an  officer  worth  preserving,  and  that  some 
recompense  was  due  to  him  for  the  loss  of  his  govern- 
ment of  Prussia,  with  which,  mad  as  he  was,  and  often 
furious,  he  could  not  be  intrusted. 

But  none  of  these  reasons  can  be  alleged  in  behalf  of 
Manstein,  a  simple  captain,  a  common  and  even  ignorant 
officer,  but  a  devout  mystic;  who,  without  any  pretext, 
has  been  sent  for  and  is  destined,  as  it  is  said,  to  be 
the  governor  of  the  young  Princes,  with  the  title  of 
Lieutenant  Colonel.  To  those  who  look  into  futurity,  this 
is  fearful.  The  whole  army  is  offended.  Indeed,  it  is  prob- 
ably not  true;  but  the  very  suspicion  speaks  the  public 
opinion. 

A  singularity  which  has  not  excited  less  murmuring  is 

*  Meaning  the  present  King. 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  211 

that  Heynitz,  Minister  of  State  for  the  department  of  the 
mines,  is  placed  at  the  head  of  the  commission  against 
Wertenberg,  a  kind  of  disagreeable  man  who  has  long 
had  the  clothing  of  the  troops;  a  subaltern  knave,  and 
perhaps  nothing  more ;  or  perhaps  less  so  than  his  prede- 
cessors. This  species  of  inquisition,  which  appears  to  be 
the  adopted  method,  and  which  will  not  easily  be  made 
familiar  to  the  people,  whom  it  will  be  difficult  to  per- 
suade that  the  late  King  was  negligent  and  a  bad  econ- 
omist,—  this  species  of  inquisition,  I  say,  seems  to  indicate 
suspicions  of  the  commanding  officers,  since  the  direction 
of  such  trials  is  taken  from  these  officers,  to  whom  they 
entirely  appertained.  There  are  great  complaints,  and 
still  greater  contempt.  This  must  be  an  ill  symptom, 
especially  after  a  reign  of  only  two  months. 

Indolence  and  stagnation,  its  necessary  result,  continue 
to  be  felt.  In  consequence  of  not  having  the  letters 
sent  after  him,  as  was  the  custom  of  Frederick  II.,  the 
King  is  prodigiously  in  arrear.  He  found  thousands  on 
his  return  from  Silesia,  his  journey  through  which  is  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  incredible  activity  of  the  late 
King ;  who,  however,  did  not  devote  more  time,  or  rather 
who  devoted  less,  than  another  to  his  trade  of  King. 
He  only  set  apart  an  hour  and  a  half  each  day  on  ordi- 
nary occasions  for  this  purpose ;  but  he  never  put  off  the 
business  of  the  present  day  to  the  morrow.  He  knew, 
so  well  was  he  acquainted  with  man,  that  a  bad  reply 
was  better  than  none.  A  heap  of  memorials  and  pro- 
jects are  on  the  table  of  the  present  King,  most  of  which 
relate  to  military  changes,  on  which  he  has  never  cast 
his  eyes,  and  which  have  been  productive  of  nothing, 
except  for  his  vehement  aversion  for  memorials.  He  re- 
gards them  as  a  tax  on  his  sovereign  authority;  and 
supposes  advice  of  any  kind  to  be  an  avowal  of  an 
opinion  of  his  incapacity.  Among  the  useless  writings 
which  have  been  remitted  to  him,  there  is  said  to  be  a 
memorial  from  Baron  Knyphausen,  on  foreign  politics. 
There  are  indications  which  lead  me  to  believe  it  is 
favorable  to  our  system,  and  this  has  given  him  particu- 
lar displeasure;  its  fate,  therefore,  was  to  be  thrown 
aside,  without  hesitation,  as  the  reveries  of  dotage.  The 


212  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

Baron,  however,  has  disowned  to  me  that  he  is  the  author 
of  this  memorial. 

To  the  same  sensation,  apparently,  which  makes  him 
so  much  detest  advice,  we  must  attribute  the  following 
singularity:  Welner  has  only  had  a  stipend  of  three 
thousand  crowns,  deducted  from  the  pensions  formerly 
paid  to  the  head  officers  of  the  commercial  departments; 
the  smallest  of  which  pensions  only  is  granted  him,  so 
that  he  is  but  the  equal  of  those  who  have  least  influ- 
ence, and  have  not  the  same  industry.  As  the  few  prep- 
arations which  are  made  are  all  made  by  him  his  labor 
must  be  very  great.  A  single  statement  of  the  money 
accounts  is  said  to  have  given  him  much  trouble.  At 
present,  the  exceedings  of  the  receipts  over  the  expend- 
iture, at  least  the  civil,  are  known.  The  sum  is  greater 
than  was  supposed  by  near  one -quarter,  which  is  much. 
It  is  imagined  that  the  chief  part  of  this  surplus  will  be 
applied  to  increase  the  pay  of  subalterns.  Private  soldiers 
undoubtedly  deserve  no  greater  honor  than  that  of  dying 
with  hunger.  But  I  scarcely  can  believe  they  will  dare 
to  offend  the  corps  of  the  captains. 

If  the  King  give  but  little  to  those  who  seem  to  be 
his  greatest  favorites,  there  yet  are  indications  that  he 
bestows  secret  largesses;  or  that  he  has  secret  reasons 
for  conferring  such  on  some  persons.  The  chamberlain 
Doernberg,  an  insignificant  person  in  my  opinion,  who 
quitted  the  service  of  the  Princess  Amelia  with  ingrati- 
tude, she  having  paid  his  debts,  to  enter  into  that  of 
the  Queen,  has  twice  within  five  days  had  his  salary 
considerably  augmented.  At  present  he  has  two  thou- 
sand crowns  as  chamberlain,  a  sum  hitherto  unheard  of. 
What  does  this  denote  ?  Have  they  at  length  determined 
on  the  scheme  of  marrying  Mademoiselle  Voss  ?  Have 
they  cast  their  eyes  on  this  fortunate  mortal,  who  resem- 
bles a  baboon  ?  Do  they  intend  insensibly  to  make  his 
fortune  ?  A  captain  in  the  Gendarmes  said  to  me  yester- 
day, (<  Since  royal  munificence  is  so  amply  showered  on 
Doernberg,  I  for  my  part  expect  an  annual  gratification 
of  fifty  thousand  crowns."  This  must  be  either  an  affair 
of  mysticism,  pimping,  or  marriage.  But,  if  the  last, 
why  make  so  ridiculous  a  choice  ?  What  courtier  is  there 


THE   COURT    OF   BERLIN  213 

who  would  refuse  Mademoiselle  Voss,  with  plenty  of 
money  ?  I  did  them  too  much  honor  in  supposing  such 
were  to  be  found  in  this  Vandalian  Court.  Not  in 
places  where  men  are  accustomed  to  walk  double  will 
any  be  found  who  shall  stand  erect  when  such  temp- 
tations are  thrown  in  their  way.  Besides,  what  cannot 
money  effect  in  a  nation  so  poor  !  I  not  long  since  saw 
Brederic,  late  lackey  to  Prince  Henry,  become  a  kind  of 
favorite,  because  of  his  art  as  a  CHAMBER  COUNSELOR, 
and  ostentatiously  display  the  cross  and  ribbon  of  a 
canonry  of  Magdeburg  (Prince  Henry  is  provost  of  this 
chapter).  Seven  thousand  crowns,  lent  by  the  Prince, 
have  purchased  the  stall;  and  the  Prince's  well-beloved 
groom  bears  the  sacred  insignia,  in  a  country  where 
there  is  so  much  delicacy  pretended  on  the  article  of 
birth. 

Apropos  of  his  patron.  For  a  week  past  I  have  not 
heard  this  musical  Prince  mentioned,  the  height  and 
depth  of  whose  thermometer  are  the  greatest  that  ever 
fell  under  my  observation.  The  Count  of  Brandenburg 
requested  permission  of  him  to  be  present  at  the  banquet 
he  gave  to  that  part  of  the  regiment  of  Braun  who 
fought  under  him  at  Prague.  The  Prince  granted  the 
child  permission;  and,  after  highly  caressing  him,  said, 
tt  It  is  difficult,  my  little  friend,  to  converse  with  you 
here,  but  ask  your  father  leave  to  come  to  my  palace, 
and  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  you."  Thus  artful  are 
his  politics.  He  must  employ  a  quantity  of  such  strata- 
gems to  reimburse  himself  for  his  grand  dinners.  One 
of  his  table-confidants  and  admirers  said  to  me  the  other 
day,  "Is  it  not  very  singular  that  the  Prince  is  so  little 
esteemed,  after  all  he  has  done  for  the  army  ?  w  —  and 
he  meant  by  this  to  criminate  the  army!  It  appeared 
to  me  a  notable  speech. 

The  anecdote  respecting  the  Academy  is  still  more 
curious  than  according  to  the  manner  in  which  I  related 
it  in  my  last.  The  Academician  Schutz  has  written  a 
very  violent  letter  to  the  King,  against  Count  Hertzberg, 
and  concerning  the  arbitrary  manner  in  which  he  governs 
the  Academy.  The  King  sent  the  letter  to  Hertzberg,  a 
marked  token  of  disapprobation  in  this  country.  Busching, 


214  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

the  geographer,  on  the  same  day,  refused  a  seat  in  the 
Academy,  unless  a  pension  should  be  granted  him  of  a 
thousand  crowns.  The  only  answer  given  to  the  com- 
plaints of  Schutz  was  the  nomination  of  Erman,  by 
Hertzberg,  without  consulting  any  person;  and  the  King 
signed  his  YES,  without  objecting  to  this  nomination. 
Schutz  wrote  another  letter,  still  more  violent;  what  the 
consequences  were  I  do  not  know. 

The  disgrace  of  Launay  is  not  so  mild  as  it  appears. 
It  is  openly  avowed  that  Government  only  waits  till  he 
has  furnished  Silesia  with  coffee,  and  that  then  he  is  to 
be  displaced.  He  very  rashly  undertook  this  contract, 
which  he  has  bargained  with  traders  to  fulfill,  who  are 
emboldened  by  his  downfall  to  disown  or  break  their  en- 
gagements at  the  moment  when,  all  the  navigable  canals 
being  frozen,  there  are  such  few  means  of  repairing  so 
great  a  deficiency.  But  the  truth  is  the  commission  is 
suspended,  because  that  they  are  secretly  sending,  through 
different  parts  of  the  kingdom,  in  search  of  proofs;  a 
truly  cruel  and  tyrannical  inquisition,  which  shows  that 
they  are  rather  desirous  of  the  guilt  of  Launay  than  of 
the  public  benefit. 

A  man  named  Dubosc,  formerly  an  eminent  merchant 
at  Leipsic,  where,  if  I  do  not  mistake,  he  failed,  and 
well  known  for  his  visionary  adherence  to  mysticism, 
has  been  sent  for,  and  is  at  present  employed,  as  is 
supposed,  to  give  in  a  plan  of  commercial  regulations 
as  a  substitute  for  exclusive  privileges.  It  should  seem 
they  meditate  a  sally  against  the  Splittgerbers,*  and  that 
means  are  seeking  to  deprive  them  of  the  monopoly  of 
sugar;  a  very  just  and  salutary,  but  a  very  difficult  and 
delicate  act. 

An  article  of  intelligence  still  more  important  is  that 
Baron  Knyphausen  has  had  a  secret  conversation  with 
the  King;  but,  though  it  comes  from  a  good  quarter,  I 
will  not  warrant  it  to  be  true.  Not  that  this  would  much 
astonish  me.  I  know  past  doubt  that  the  King,  enraged 
at  being  obliged  to  send  Count  Goertz  to  Holland,  at 
the  very  moment  when  the  House  of  Orange  itself  com- 

*  Splittgerber  is  a  sugar  baker  at  Berlin,  who  has  for  many  years 
enjoyed  a  monopoly  of  that  commodity. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  215 

plains  of  this  Ambassador,  wished  after  venting  a  tor- 
rent of  passion  and  abuse,  to  recall  both  Goertz  and 
Thulemeyer;  but  that  he  was  stopped  short,  because  of 
the  impossibility  of  finding  a  MAN  in  a  country  where 
there  are  none;  and  particularly  none  fit  for  Ambassa- 
dors, a  part  of  administration  that  was  highly  neglected 
by  the  late  King.  His  successor,  perhaps,  will  be  taught 
that  fools  are  not  good  for  any  one  purpose. 

POSTSCRIPT. —  Nothing  new  since  I  wrote  this  long  let- 
ter. Various  particulars  assure  me  that  the  Princess 
Frederica,  the  daughter  of  the  King,  gains  great  influ- 
ence, and  never  meets  with  any  refusal.  This  doubtless 
appertains  to  the  history  of  Voss. 


LETTER   XLVI. 


TO    THE    DUC    DE    L- 


November  izth,   1786. 

I  FLATTERED  myself  that  M.  de    H would  bring  me 
a  packet  from  Your  Grace.     He  informed  me  you  had 
intended  to  intrust   him  with  one,  and  I  am  exceed- 
ingly  grateful    for    the    intention,  although    I    have    not 
profited  by  it ;  this  I  attribute  to  unforeseen  circumstances, 
which,  while  I  pray  for  you,  have  my  hearty  maledictions. 

I  hope  that  the  Abbe"  de  P has  sent  you  the  news 

of  the  country,  concerning  which  I  have  not  neglected 
occasionally  to  remit  anecdotes  tolerably  characteristic  of 
the  moment.  I  feel  the  poverty  of  my  own  harvest  more 
forcibly  than  any  person;  but  it  ought  not  to  be  for- 
gotten that  I  am  neither  provided  with  the  pecuniary 
nor  the  ministerial  means.  It  is  impossible  anything 
should  escape  the  man  of  France*  if  he  be  adroit,  active, 
liberal,  and  has  the  art  to  invite  proper  guests  to  his 
DAILY  dinners  and  suppers;  for  these  are  the  efficacious 
means,  and  not  PUBLIC  dinners.  He  is,  besides,  a  kind 
of  register  office,  to  which  all  the  discontented,  the 
babblers,  and  the  covetous  resort.  Besides  that,  his 
intercourse  with  subalterns  is  natural  to  him  and  per- 
mitted; I,  on  the  contrary,  have  need  of  great  art  and 
circumspection,  in  order  to  speak  without  offense  or  in- 
trusion on  public  affairs.  I  rarely  can  address  my 
discourse  to  persons  in  power.  My  very  aspect  terrifies 
them  too  much.  The  King  never  deigns  to  look  at  me 
but  their  countenances  lengthen  and  grow  pale.  I  have 
acted  however,  to  the  best  of  my  abilities,  and,  as 
I  believe,  done  all  I  could  with  means  that  are  very 
mutilated,  very  ungracious,  and  very  sterile;  nor  can  I 
tell  whether  the  person  on  whom  the  King  bestows  a 

*The  author  undoubtedly  means  the  Ambassador. 
(216) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  217 

salary  of  sixty  thousand  livres,  and  a  post  of  honor 
here,  sends  much  more  information  than  I  do.  But  I 
well  know  that  I,  under  the  same  circumstances,  would 
have  penetrated  many  clouds  through  which,  stationed 
as  I  am,  I  have  very  dark  views;  and  that  I  would  not 
discredit  my  nation,  as  he  is  accused  of  doing,  by  his 
haughty  behavior,  his  bittersweet  aspect  and  idleness 
that  greatly  resembles  ignorance. 

M.  de  H will  more  fully  relate,  as  I  suppose,  the 

particulars  I  have  sent.  He  will  tell  you  our  cause  is  a 
lost  one  here,  unless  a  change  should  take  place  among 
the  Judges;  that  the  way  to  re-establish  our  affairs  is 
not  to  be  over  hasty;  since  this  would  but  prolong  re- 
sistance among  men  naturally  phlegmatic,  and  whose 
phlegm  we  may  safely  conclude  will  not  suffer  them  to 
continue  long  impassioned;  that  he  himself  was  too 
hasty  to  come  to  a  country  which  at  the  beginning  of 
the  present  reign,  when  each  is  looking  for  advance- 
ment, is  too  restless  and  jealous  to  suppose  that  a  gen- 
eral officer  and  an  inspector  in  the  service  of  France 
could  really  wish  to  be  in  the  service  of  Prussia ;  that  the 
chaos  (for  so  affairs  at  present  may  well  be  called)  must 
be  suffered  to  subside,  and  from  the  nature  of  things 
acquire  consistency  (if  on  the  contrary  it  should  not  suf- 
fer destruction),  though  it  be  but  the  consistency  of 
apathy,  before  attempts  should  be  made  to  interfere; 
that  no  person  is  at  present  firmly  placed ;  that  the  grand 
question  — <(  Will  the  King,  or  will  he  not,  have  the  cour- 
age to  take  a  first  Minister  ? )J  —  is  far  from  being  re- 
solved, even  by  the  calculation  of  probabilities;  that  on 
this  determination,  however,  the  fate  of  the  country  de- 
pends, and  even  the  ultimate  capacity  of  the  King,  whose 
inability  will  be  of  little  import  if  this  remedy  should 
be  found  to  be  a  substitute  for  his  indecision;  that  the 
symptoms  are  vexatious,  and  indeed  disagreeable,  but 
that  we  must  not  pronounce  too  hastily,  because  our  in- 
formation is  the  reverse  of  complete. 

It  appears  to  me  indubitable  that  Prince  Henry  is 
ruined  past  resource;  and  I  fear  (in  his  behalf)  that,  on 
this  occasion  as  on  many  others,  chance  has  arranged 
affairs  better  than  our  precaution.  But,  whether  or  no, 


218 

his  cunning,  his  boasting,  his  inconsistency,  the  intemper- 
ance of  his  tongue,  and  the  vileness  of  his  creatures, 
seconded  by  the  most  universal  discredit,  have  added  to 
personal  antipathy,  and  the  general  and  habitual  fear  of 
appearing  to  be  governed. 

The  destiny  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  is  far  otherwise 
uncertain;  nor  do  I  believe  it  will  be  decided  before 
there  is  an  open  rupture.  But  it  is  peculiar  to  him,  and 
to  him  alone,  that,  should  he  once  grasp  power,  it  will 
not  afterward  escape  him;  for  a  better  courtier,  a  man 
of  deeper  views,  more  subtle,  and  at  the  same  time 
more  firm  and  more  pertinacious,  does  not  exist. 

You  may  well  imagine,  Monseigneur,  that,  if  I  suppose 
facts  are  too  partial,  and  hitherto  not  sufficiently  numer- 
ous to  be  reduced  to  system,  on  which  conjectures  may 
be  formed  respecting  the  King  and  politics,  I  am  still 
much  farther  from  thinking  I  can,  with  any  appearance 
of  probability  satisfactory  for  a  wise  man,  divine  what 
will  be  the  grand  foreign  connections,  and  political  in- 
fluence of  Prussia,  under  the  present  reign.  I  have 
sketched  my  ideas  on  the  subject  in  a  memorial,  which  is 
a  work  of  labor;  but  which  (except  the  proofs  the  country 
affords,  and  which  here,  as  I  imagine,  will  be  found  united 
and  compared  more  accurately  than  anywhere  else)  is 
only  a  succession  of  conjectures.  It  contains  many  things 
which  may,  and  perhaps  not  one  of  which  will,  happen. 
I  am  fortunate  if,  in  this  calculation  of  the  arithmetic  of 
chances,  I  have  so  far  succeeded  as  to  describe  things  as 
they  are,  and  as  they  may  be.  From  this  memorial, 
accompanied  by  three  or  four  others,  on  parts  of  Ger- 
many which  lucky  chance  has  given  me  opportunities  of 
perfectly  knowing,  a  plan  may  be  formed  according  to 
which  the  Germanic  edifice  may  be  reconstructed,  a  work 
that  ought  to  be  begun,  if  its  ruin  is  not  desired.  And 
here,  I  confess,  the  indecision  of  man,  the  complication  of 
incidents,  and  the  obscurity  of  future  contingencies  arrest 
me  at  each  step ;  and  I  have  no  other  guide  than  what  is 
offered  by  your  grand  and  noble  project  of  coalition,  be- 
tween France  and  England,  the  end  of  which  is  to  give 
happiness  to  the  world,  and  not  afford  amusement  to 
orators  and  newswriters. 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  219 

M.  de  H has  informed  me  that  Your  Grace  intends 

coming  hither  in  the  spring.  This  certainly  would  be 
the  only  means  of  rendering  my  stay  here  supportable. 
But  I  hope  you  will  not  so  long  be  left  in  inactivity  so 
unworthy  of  your  talents.  As  to  myself,  after  having 
paid  a  tribute  for  six  months,  during  which  I  have  the 
satisfaction  conviction  gives  of  having  employed  uncom- 
mon assiduity  and  research,  in  compensation  for  the  want 
of  natural  talents,  I  think  I  have  a  right  to  shake  off  an 
equivocal  and  doubtful  existence,  every  way  embarrass- 
ing, requiring  dexterity  and  fortitude  seldom  found  to 
preserve  personal  respect,  and  in  which  I  consume  my 
time  and  my  strength  in  a  species  of  labor  that  has  no 
charms  for  me,  or  in  the  languor  of  etiquette  and  com- 
pany still  worse  than  this  labor.  Of  this  I  have  informed 
the  Abb£  de  P in  express  terms. 


LETTER   XLVII. 

November  24th,  1786. 

HE  most   distressing   incident   possible   has   just  hap- 
pened  to   me.     It  is    a    very     extraordinary    story. 

Madame  de  F the  famous  Tribade,  *  coming  from 

the  waters  of  Schwalback,  has  dropped  here  as  if  from 
the  clouds,  under  a  borrowed  name,  with  an  immense 
train,  and  not  a  single  letter  of  recommendation  except  to 
bankers.  Can  you  imagine  what  project  this  profoundly 
audacious  and  indeed  capable  woman  has  entertained  ? 
The  conquest  of  the  King!  And  as,  in  punishment  for 
my  sins,  I  have  known  her  long  and  well,  the  damnable 
siren  has  addressed  herself  to  me,  to  lay  down  a  chart 
of  the  country  for  her;  and,  in  return,  receive,  as  a  de- 
posit, that  high  confidence  which  I  should  most  willingly 
have  bequeathed  to  Beelzebub.  However,  as  she  is  a 
demon  of  seduction,  as  she  does  not  ask  for  money,  at 
least  not  at  present,  and  as  her  qualities  of  body  and 
mind  in  many  respects  correspond  with  those  of  the 
Monarch,  if  this  be  not  an  opportunity  to  be  sought 
after  neither  is  it  one  to  reject.  Besides,  as  the  design 
is  begun,  and  as  it  will  be  better  to  undertake  the  direc- 
tion than  be  exposed  to  ridiculous  broils,  I  am  at  pres- 
ent in  search  of  means  to  afford  her  a  decent  pretense 
of  remaining  here  a  fortnight;  taking  care  to  draw  my 
stake,  or  rather  taking  care  not  to  put  it  down. 

If  the  Comte  d'Esterno  were  not  in  every  respect  one 
and  the  same,  the  affair  might  presently  be  managed. 
She  might  be  going  to  Petersburg,  through  Warsaw,  — 
waiting  here  till  she  could  travel  in  a  sledge,  which  from 
the  setting  in  of  the  frost  cannot  be  long  delayed;  might 
give  a  few  select  suppers;  excite  curiosity,  etc.,  etc. 
But  this  mode  is  not  to  be  depended  on ;  it  is  too  subtle 
for  his  understanding. 

*A  woman-lover. 

(220) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  221 

Were  not  Prince  Henry  indiscretion  itself,  nothing 
could  be  more  easy  than  by  his  aid  to  introduce  her  to 
the  Court.  She  might  have  brought  him  letters.  But 
in  an  hour's  time  the  aide-de-camp,  Tauensien,  would  be 
informed  of  everything;  as  would  his  aunt,  Madame  Knib- 
beck,  in  five  minutes  afterward;  and  her  I  suspect  to 
be  the  go-between  of  Mademoiselle  Voss.  We  must  de- 
pend on  our  resources.  I  shall  take  care  not  to  entan- 
gle myself;  though,  indeed,  her  very  first  step  has 
entangled  me.  It  is  a  kind  of  fatality;  and  how  might 
I  escape  ? 

I  have  made  many  reflections  on  this  odd  adventure. 
Our  plan  must  be  not  to  abandon  our  purpose,  and  not 
to  be  too  scrupulous  concerning  the  means.  The  few  we 
have  are,  in  truth,  impracticable. 

If  she  remain  in  her  present  situation,  there  will  be 
no  means  of  seeing  the  King.  The  mystics,  the  Voss  party, 
and  the  anti-French  in  general,  will  all  be  her  enemies. 
If  she  conceal  her  intentions,  she  will  be  opposed  by  the 
party  of  the  Rietz,  and  the  subalterns.  Either  I  must 
often  visit  her,  which  will  render  her  suspected;  or  I 
must  not,  and  she  will  conduct  herself  improperly. 

If  this  partake  of  the  adventurer,  I  voluntarily  engross 
the  blame. 

Nothing  can  be  done  in  haste,  with  a  German  prince. 
Should  her  stay  be  long,  that  stay  will  of  itself  divulge 
the  secret. 

It  is  not  possible  but  that,  in  a  week,  her  true  name 
must  be  known.  The  reputation  she  has  acquired  will  then 
spoil  everything,  in  a  country  where  seductive  qualities 
will  not  excuse  vice,  and  where  a  trip  is  not  the  less  a 
trip  because  made  by  a  woman. 

The  follies  most  inexcusable  are  those  which  expose 
to  ridicule  without  compensation,  of  the  number  of 
which  this  is  one.  D'Esterno  will  relate  his  trifling  tales; 
Boden  his  trifling  scandal;  Tauensien  propagate  his 
trifling  intrigues ;  before  appearance,  it  will  be  necessary 

to  let  the  crowd  go  by,  who  will  come  and  endeavor 

I  will,  therefore,  send  her  to  Warsaw,  and  procure  her 
letters.  She  may  return  with  other  letters,  if  you  do 
not  inform  me  by  what  means  she  may  be  prevented, 


222  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

should  such  be  your  wish;  for,  though  I  can  delay,  how 
may  I  forbid  her  return?  Such  I  have  thought  the 
least  hazardous  proceeding  in  this  fantastic  farce,  which 
I,  with  good  reason,  think  of  greater  importance  than 
you  may  be  tempted  to  do,  because  at  Paris  Madame  de 

F is,  like  many  others,  little  more  than  a  courtesan ; 

while  here,  the  niece  of  an  Ambassador  and  the  widow 

of  a  P G ,  etc  ,  will  never  be  supposed  not  to 

have  been  sent  by  Government,  or,  at  least,  not  to  have 
come  hither  under  its  protection.  She,  therefore,  must 
not  be  suffered  to  commit  any  great  folly. 

The  King  has  lately  terminated  a  suit  which  had  been 
in  contest  for  three-and-twenty  years.  The  Duke  of 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin  formerly  borrowed  a  hundred 
thousand  crowns  of  Frederick  II.,  and  gave  some  bail- 
liages  (or  districts)  as  a  security.  Hither  Frederick  im- 
mediately sent  a  regiment  of  hussars  into  quarters.  The 
regiment,  as  you  may  well  suppose,  raised  recruits. 
The  people  of  Mecklenburg  were  shocked  by  this  act  of 
despotism,  and  offered  to  repay  the  late  King;  who, 
during  twenty-three  years,  always  found  pretenses  to 
avoid  receiving  the  money.  His  successor  has  withdrawn 
the  troops.  It  is  true  he  loses  an  opportunity  of  enlist- 
ing some  of  the  country  people,  but  he  will  annually 
save  thirty  thousand  crowns;  and  there  is  likewise  a 
new  member  gained  for  the  Germanic  confederation,  and 
what  that  might  be  valued  at,  this  is  worth. 

On  Sunday  (the  i2th),  at  the  principal  inn  in  Berlin, 
the  marriage  of  the  Countess  Matuska  and  a  Prussian 
officer  named  Stutheren,  was  celebrated.  The  Countess 
is  a  sister  of  Mademoiselle  Hencke  ( Madame  Rietz ). 
She  thought  to  have  married  a  Polish  gentleman,  who 
some  months  since  withdrew.  Once  deceived,  she  next 
made  choice  of  a  young  officer.  The  King  has  given 
money,  and  money  enough.  It  is  supposed  that  Made- 
moiselle Hencke,  who  now  is  said  not  to  be  married  to 
Rietz,  will  retire  and  live  with  her  sister,  that  she  may 
not  impede  the  projects  formed  to  enjoy  the  maid  of 
honor  in  peace. 

There  are  whisperings  of  a  very  remarkable  and  very 
secret  supper,  at  which  the  shade  of  Caesar  was  taken. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  223 

The  number  of  mystics  increases.  They  affirm  that  the 
credit  of  Bishopswerder  declines.  I  do  not  believe  a 
word  of  it. 

No  new  act  of  finance.  Depositions  against  poor  Lau- 
nay  are  poured  in,  and  in  all  probability  his  fortune 
must  purchase  his  freedom. 

Nothing  new,  or  at  least  nothing  certain,  from  Holland, 
except  that  Count  Goertz  has  found  the  way  to  displease 
the  States,  the  House  of  Orange,  and  the  principal  per- 
sons who  are  enumerated  among  the  French  faction.  I 
well  know  what  a  philosopher  would  deduce  from  this: 
the  politician  will  perceive  there  are  commissions,  the 
discharge  of  which  he  never  ought  to  undertake. 


LETTER  XLVIII. 

November  i8th,   1786. 

IT  is  every  day  more  apparent  that  the  King  does  not 
forget  those  who  were  attached  to  him  before  his 
accession  to  the  throne;  and  this  propensity,  which 
is  successively  developed,  proves  him,  at  least,  an  honest 
man.  Count  Alexander  Wartensleben,  an  officer  in  the 
guards,  whom  I  have  several  times  mentioned,  had  been 
educated  with  him.  Hence  that  intimacy  which  will  not 
admit  of  secrets.  The  late  King  sent  for  Wartensleben, 
and  said  to  him,  <(  I  am  pleased  to  see  you  so  very 
intimate  with  my  nephew ;  continue  your  friendship.  But 
it  is  also  necessary  you  should  serve  the  State.  I  ought 
to  be  informed  of  the  proceedings  of  my  successor. 
Mein  liebes  Kind,  *  you  will  come  and  let  me  know  what 
passes  at  your  parties  of  pleasure.  I  shall  not  forbid 
them.  I  shall  only  warn  you  when  there  is  any  danger ; 
and  of  this  you  yourself  will  inform  the  Prince  of  Prussia. 
Depend  upon  me,  mein  Schatz.  *f  Wartensleben,  who  knew 
the  old  fox,  replied  <(  that  he  was  the  friend  of  the  Prince, 
the  friend  of  his  heart,  and  that  he  would  never  become 
his  spy.w  The  King  then  assumed  his  furious  counte- 
nance. <(  HERR  LIEUTENANT,  since  you  will  not  serve  me, 
I  will  at  least  take  care  that  you  shall  obey."  On  the 
morrow  he  was  sent  to  Spandau,  where  he  was  impris- 
oned three  months,  and  after  that  ordered  to  a  garrison 
regiment  in  the  very  farther  part  of  Prussia.  J  On  the 
new  King's  accession  he  was  recalled.  After  a  momen- 
tary displeasure,  which  Wartensleben's  refusal  to  go  to 
Sweden  occasioned,  and  which  perhaps  was  the  contriv- 

*  My  good  child. 

f  This  corresponds  very  well  with  the  Irish  phrase,  MY   JEWEL  or  MY 

HONEY. 

\  This  was  a  mode  of  punishment  with  the  late  King,  and  a  very  dis- 
agreeable one  to  the  sufferers ;  for,  besides  confinement,  little  pay,  and 
no  hopes  of  preferment,  it  was  a  public  mark  of  contempt. 
(224) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  225 

ance  of  the  other  favorites,  the  King  has  bestowed  a 
prebendary  on  him,  the  income  of  which  is  valued  at 
twelve  thousand  crowns;  and,  according  to  all  ap- 
pearance, intends  to  give  him  the  command  of  the 
guards. 

The  following  is  a  second  example  of  a  like  kind. 
When  the  suit  was  carried  on  against  the  Minister  Goern, 
who  was  superintendent  of  the  College  of  Commerce, 
among  his  papers  was  a  bill  on  the  Heir  Apparent  for 
thirty  thousand  crowns.  The  money  must  be  procured 
within  twenty-four  hours.  Arnim  went  in  search  of  the 
Prince,  and  offered  him  the  sum,  which  was  most  joy- 
fully accepted.  This  probably  is  the  origin  of  the  favor 
which  the  new  Minister  enjoys;  I  cannot  conjecture  any 
other,  except  what  may  be  deduced  from  the  King's  easi- 
ness of  character,  his  indecision  and  mediocrity  of  mind ; 
which,  however,  is  just  and  clear,  as  I  have  said  in  my 
former  dispatches. 

The  King  has  done  a  third  humane  and  generous  act. 
His  first  wife,  the  Princess  Elizabeth  of  Brunswick,*  has 
received  an  increase  of  allowance,  consisting  of  the  rev- 
enues of  the  bailliage  of  Ziganitz,  which  amount  to  twelve 
thousand  crowns,  with  liberty  to  retire  whenever  she 
pleases.  Certain  of  not  being  received  by  her  family, 
she  will  remain  at  Stettin.  But  the  news  has  transported 
her  with  joy.  She  has  publicly  declared  that  the  lady 
of  General  Schwerin,  her  gouvernante,  has  no  more  right 
to  give  her  any  orders;  and,  for  the  first  time  these 
eighteen  years,  she  took  an  airing  on  horseback  with 
Mademoiselle  Plates,  that  she  might  immediately  enjoy 
that  liberty  to  which  she  was  restored. 

A  trait  which  we  ought  to  add,  in  proof  of  the  King's 
morals,  is  his  having  given  up  the  letters  to  Prince 
Henry,  which  passed  in  his  correspondence  with  Fred- 
erick. Their  number  amounts  to  five  hundred  and 
eighty-seven,  on  State  affairs,  from  the  year  1759  to  the 
year  1786.  It  had  been  unseasonably  reported  that  the 
Prince  was  privately  of  his  brother's  opinion  concern- 
ing their  nephew.  These  letters,  however,  have  proved 

*  Divorced,  banished  the  Court,  and  confined   at  Stettin,  for  her 
incontinence. 
15 


226  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

that  he  did  not  wish  it  should  be  known.  He  even  ren- 
dered him  services;  and,  for  example,  when  Count  War- 
tensleben  of  whom  I  have  just  spoken,  was  imprisoned, 
he  sent  him  a  grant  of  a  pension  of  a  hundred  a  year, 
which  he  still  enjoys. 

The  famous  chamber  hussar,  Schoening,  the  confiden- 
tial man  of  the  deceased  King,  has  lately  been  appointed 
assistant  to  the  cashier  of  the  military  chest,  with  a  sal- 
ary of  three  thousand  crowns.  This  certainly  is  not  a 
rancorous  act.  Schoening,  indeed,  is  not  a  man  with- 
out intelligence;  and  he  is  the  depositary  of  numerous 
secrets,  which  ought  not  at  present  to  be  made  public, 
perhaps  never. 

In  opposition  to  all  these  good  actions,  we  must  place 
the  apathy  of  the  King,  on  the  subject  of  his  personal 
debts.  He  is  in  no  haste  to  pay  those  that  are  not  of  the 
household,  and  there  is  a  very  considerable  sum  apper- 
taining to  the  latter  which  remains  unsettled. 

It  is  determined  that  the  King  is  to  discharge  all  the 
persons  employed  as  taxgatherers  on  the  French  finance 
system,  which  in  itself  is  a  laudable  act;  for  were  there 
a  necessity  for  some  years  to  prolong  the  farming  of  the 
customs,  yet,  either  the  French  collectors  already  have, 
or  never  will  have,  taught  the  Germans  the  mode  of 
transacting  the  business.  And  is  not  the  Prussian  Mon- 
arch the  King  of  Germans?  But  innovation  is  a  very 
delicate  thing;  and  I  see  no  preparations  made  to  lessen 
the  shock  that  must  be  received.  The  farmers  of  tobacco 
and  snuff  have  been  informed  that  their  administration 
must  cease  on  the  ist  of  June,  1787.  All  persons  thence- 
forward will  be  allowed  to  cultivate  tobacco,  and  to  make 
and  sell  snuff.  This  is  a  very  important  object;  for  the 
tobacco  that  grows  on  these  barren  sands  is  some  of  the 
best  in  Germany,  and  formerly  was  a  very  considerable 
branch  of  trade.  On  the  ist  of  July  grants  are  to  be 
delivered,  gratis,  to  whoever  shall  make  the  requisition. 
(Nay,  freedom  is  promised  for  coffee,  too.)  From  1783 
to  1786,  the  duties  on  snuff  and  tobacco  had  yielded 
about  sixteen  hundred  thousand  livres  more  than  the 
sum  they  had  been  estimated  at  by  the  King;  so  that 
these  formed  a  revenue  of  something  more  than  a  million 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  227 

of  crowns,  and  sometimes  a  million  four  hundred  thou- 
sand. Yet  the  collectors  had  not  the  right  of  buying  the 
leaf  tobacco;  they  were  obliged  to  purchase  it  from  the 
warehouses  of  the  Maritime  Company,  by  whom  it  was 
sold  at  a  profit  of  cent  per  cent.  These  collectors  com- 
mitted infinite  vexations  on  the  subject,  to  obtain  a  sur- 
plus, with  which  it  was  necessary  to  come  before  the  King 
when  they  delivered  in  their  accounts ;  otherwise,  he  could 
neither  find  wisdom  in  their  proceedings  nor  talents  in. 
themselves.  The  King  leaves  the  collectors  their  salaries- 
till  they  can  be  provided  for,  and  this  is  humane ;  for  the 
change  will  affect  not  less  than  twelve  hundred  families. 
But  how  will  they  find  a  substitute  for  this  revenue?  A 
capitation  tax  is  spoken  of,  and  is  certainly  under  deliber- 
ation. The  subjects  are  to  be  comprised  in  twelve  classes; 
the  rich  merchants  are  to  pay  twenty-four  crowns ;  the  rich 
inhabitants  twelve  crowns;  two  crowns  for  obscure  citi- 
zens; and  the  peasants  something  less  than  two  francs. 
What  a  manner  of  beginning  a  reign  it  is,  to  tax  persons 
before  property!  In  the  collection  of  this  odious  tax, 
which  sets  a  price  on  the  right  of  existence,  the  tobacco  ex- 
cisemen are  to  be  employed.  The  capitation,  however,  is 
somewhat  softened  by  being  paid  by  the  family  and  not 
by  the  head.  But  the  proselytes  to,  and  even  the  apostles 
of,  this  project  do  not  estimate  the  tax  at  more  than  two 
millions  of  crowns  annually ;  which  sum  is  the  product  of 
tobacco  and  coffee  united,  but  which  scarcely  will  supply 
the  deficiency;  and  those  who  understand  calculation  in 
finance  will  be  careful  not  to  estimate  a  tax  equally  pro- 
ductive in  figures  and  reality.  I  am  surprised  that  he 
does  not  first  gain  a  better  knowledge  of  substitutes ;  and 
that  he  should  begin  by  operations  which  I  have  pointed 
out  as  things  to  prepare,  and  should  defer  those  with 
which  I  thought  he  ought  to  commence.* 

Heinitz,  Minister  for  the  department  of  the  mines, 
and  president  of  the  commission  commanded  to  examine 
the  administration  of  General  Wartenberg,  warned  no 
doubt  by  universal  clamor,  has  remonstrated  to  the 
King  that  it  is  requisite  to  add  some  military  men  to 

*  The  author  doubtless  alludes  to  his  memorial,  which  will  be  found 
at  the  end  of  this  volume. 


228  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

the    commissioners.      His    Majesty    has    in    consequence 
appointed  General  Moellendorf. 

To  give  a  specimen  of  the  malversations  attributed  to 
the  Jew  Wartenberg,  which  it  is  said  were  highly  sur- 
passed by  his  predecessors,  the  following  trait  is  cited. 
He  made  up  clothing  for  a  regiment  of  foot,  without 
having  shrunk  the  cloth.  The  coats  were  so  tight  that 
they  scarcely  would  button  on  the  men.  The  first  day 
they  were  worn  by  the  regiment  there  happened  a  heavy 
shower.  The  quartermaster  said  that,  if  the  soldiers 
pulled  off  their  regimentals,  they  never  could  put  them 
on  again;  accordingly  they  were  commanded  to  lie  all 
night  in  their  clothes,  and  dry  them  upon  their  backs. 

The  next  is  an  example  of  another  kind,  and  char- 
acteristic of  Frederick  II.  One  of  the  cash  keepers  of 
Wartenberg  stole  eighty  thousand  crowns.  The  General 
informed  the  King,  and  waited  his  commands.  Fred- 
erick replied  he  had  nothing  to  say  to  the  matter,  for  he 
was  for  his  own  part  determined  not  to  lose  the  money. 
Wartenberg  understood  this  jargon,  assembled  all  the 
army  clothiers,  and  requested  they  would  divide  the  loss, 
under  pain  of  being  no  more  employed.  The  cloth- 
iers cried,  cursed,  lamented  their  wretched  destiny, 
and  subscribed.  Wartenberg  wrote  to  the  King  that  the 
money  was  again  in  the  military  chest.  Frederick  sent 
a  very  severe  answer,  and  concluded  his  letter  by  telling 
him  "this  was  the  last  time  he  should  be  pardoned.* 

Private  anecdotes  continue  much  the  same.  The  gen- 
eral report  is  that  the  King  is  to  espouse  Mademoiselle 
Voss  with  the  left  hand, —  a  German  mode  of  ennobling 
courtesans,  invented  by  pliant  courtiers  and  complaisant 
priests  to  save  appearances,  say  they.  This  lady  still 
continues  a  mixture  of  prudery  and  cynisme*  affectation 
and  ingenuousness.  She  can  find  understanding  only  in 
the  English,  whose  language  she  speaks  tolerably  well. 

Manstein  is  suspected  to  be  the  author  of  some  of  the 
intended  changes  in  the  army,  the  purport  of  which  is 
to  better  the  condition  of  the  soldier  and  the  subaltern, 
at  the  expense  of  the  captain.  I  repeat,  this  last  is  a 

*We  know  no  such  word.  Perhaps  from  KVU,  or  from  KVUV;  the  met- 
aphorical and  least  offensive  translation  of  which  may  be  COQUETRY. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  229 

formidable  cohort;  and  that  innovations  of  such  a  kind 
require  great  foresight  and  inflexible  fortitude.  Prince 
Henry,  who  is  profoundly  silent,  in  public,  concerning 
all  operations,  will  very  warmly  take  part  with  the  army, 
should  it  find  cause  of  complaint;  and  hopes  thus  to 
regain  what,  by  his  excessive  haughtiness,  he  has  lost. 
But  the  army  aristocracy  know  him  too  well  to  confide 
in  him;  they  know  that  the  Gitons*  have  been,  and  will 
always  continue,  with  him,  the  sovereign  arbiters;  that, 
when  circumstances  have  obliged  him  to  seek  the  aid  of 
men  of  merit,  he  has  always  found  their  presence  a 
burden,  which  his  crazy  frame  has  shaken  off  as  soon  as 
possible, —  that,  in  fine,  his  day  is  ended,  with  respect  to 
war,  and  that  he  is  odious  to  the  Ministry. 

It  seems  one  Count  Briihl  is  chosen  governor  of  the 
Prince  Royal;  and  nothing  better  proves  the  influence 
of  Bishopswerder  than  this  eternal  preference  of  Saxons. 
Count  Briihl,  son  of  the  ostentatious  satrap  of  the  same 
name,f  brother  of  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Saxon  Artil- 
lery, amiable,  well  informed,  really  or  pretentedly  be- 
lieving in  the  reveries  of  the  mystics,  with  little  of  the 
soldier,  yet  willing  to  profit  by  circumstances  and  to 
enter  the  military  career  with  gigantic  strides  —  this 
Count,  I  say,  demands  to  enter  the  service  as  a  lieuten- 
ant general;  a  thing  unheard  of  in  the  Prussian  army, 
and  which  will  cause  infinite  discontent. 

An  interdict  has  lately  been  issued,  prohibiting  the 
discount  of  bills  at  the  bank;  which  is  very  wise  in 
theory,  but  here  accompanied  by  great  inconveniences  in 
practice;  for  either  the  bank  or  the  King  must  pay  the 
interest  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent  for  about  seventeen 
millions  of  crowns,  which  is  the  amount  of  the  capital  of, 
and  the  money  brought  into,  the  bank,  in  a  country 
where  moneyed  men  find  no  means  of  employing  their 

*This  word  has  a  meaning  too  offensive  to  be  translated.  If  the 
reader  has  unfortunately  ever  heard  of  the  most  contemptible  of 
wretches,  and  the  most  unnatural  of  crimes,  he  may  then  be  his  own 
interpreter. 

f  Who  was  page  to  Augustus  II.  of  Saxony,  Prime  Minister  to  Au- 
gustus III.,  favorite  to  his  Consort,  hated  by  the  late  King  of  Prussia, 
and  who  had  a  greater  number  of  coats,  waistcoats,  etc.,  than  any 
other  man  in  the  world. 


230  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

capitals.  The  bank  cannot  pay  this  two  and  a  half  per 
cent  without  becoming  burdensome  to  the  King,  except 
by  discounting  bills  of  exchange;  and  it  will  hereafter 
be  the  less  able,  if  the  Maritime  Company,  founded  as  I 
have  before  said,  on  so  frail  a  basis,  and  obliged  to  give 
at  least  ten  per  cent  to  the  proprietors,  should  lose  any 
one  of  its  most  beneficial  exclusive  privileges, —  that  of 
wood,  for  example, —  and  should  not  be  able  to  afford 
the  bank,  to  which  the  Maritime  Society  pays  five  per 
cent  for  all  the  money  it  there  borrows,  the  same  sources 
of  profit  which  have  hitherto  been  open. 

FIRST  POSTSCRIPT. —  The  Minister  Schulemburg  has  re- 
signed; his  resignation  is  not  yet  accepted. 

The  King  yesterday  supped  with  his  daughter,  Made- 
moiselle Vierey  —  the  intimate  friend  of  Mademoiselle 
Voss,  and  placed  by  her  in  his  daughter's  service  since 
his  accession  to  the  throne — and  the  well-beloved.  Hence 
it  should  seem  that  the  romance  draws  toward  a  con- 
clusion. 

It  is  more  than  ever  certain  that  the  King  transacts 
no  business,  and  that  he  is  mad  after  pleasure.  The 
secrets  of  the  palace  on  this  subject  are  very  ill-kept 
indeed;  and  nothing,  as  I  think,  can  better  prove  the 
feebleness  of  the  master,  the  little  awe  in  which  he  is 
held,  and  the  worthlessness  of  his  creatures. 

SECOND  POSTSCRIPT. —  The  King  is  so  terrified  by  the 
universal  clamor  which  the  capitation  tax  has  excited, 
that  it  is  renounced.  Some  of  his  intimates  to-day  spoke 
to  me  of  substitutes;  but  what  can  be  expected  from  an 
avaricious  and  weak  Prince,  whom  two  days'  murmurings 
have  caused  to  retreat,  and  to  whom  we  can  only  say, 
<(  Tax  the  estates  of  the  nobility,  and  lend  out  some  of 
your  millions;  that  you  may  procure  the  interest  which 
nations  in  debt  are  obliged  to  pay." 


LETTER   XLIX. 

November  2ist,  1786. 

THERE  are  suspicions — which  are  daily  strengthened  — 
of  a  secret  negotiation  between  the  Emperor  and 
Prussia;  or  at  least  that  propositions  have  been  made, 
either  by  the  first  or  reciprocally,  on  which  deliberations 
are  held.  I  neither  have  the  money  nor  the  requisite 
means  to  discover  what  they  are.  An  Ambassador  can 
effect  anything  of  this  kind,  and  with  impunity.  But, 
though  I  even  possessed  the  great  engine  of  corruption, 
what  danger  should  I  not  be  in,  should  I  set  it  in  mo- 
tion ?  I  have  no  credentials,  direct  or  indirect.  An  act 
of  authority  might  dispose  of  me  and  my  papers  in  an 
instant;  and  I  should  be  ruined,  here  and  elsewhere,  for 
my  too  inconsiderate  zeal.  Spur  on  your  Ambassador, 
therefore,  or  hasten  to  oppose  to  this  puissant  coalition, 
which  nothing  could  resist  on  this  side  of  the  Rhine,  the 
system  of  union  with  England,  the  basis  of  which  you 
have  traced  out,  and  which  shall  be  the  salvation  of  the 
world.  Think  on  Poland,  I  conjure  you.  What  they  have 
done  (if  they  did  not  extend  their  acquisitions  it  was  in 
fact  because  they  would  not)  they  will  again  do,  and 
that  even  without  the  intervention  of  Russia;  of  that 
sleeping  giant,  who,  waking,  may  change  the  face  of 
the  globe. 

In  truth,  it  is  the  coolness  between  the  two  Imperial 
Courts  which  most  confirms  the  suspicions  of  a  new  sys- 
tem. All  that  I  can  imagine,  concerning  its  foundation, 
is  that  its  pretext  is  the  election  of  a  King  of  the 
Romans,  and  its  purport  a  strict  alliance,  which  shall  de- 
stroy the  Germanic  confederation.  As  this  confederation 
was  the  work  of  the  King  while  Prince  of  Prussia,  or  as 
he  wishes  to  believe  it  his,  and  as  he  regards  it  as  a 
masterpiece,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  Emperor  will 
succeed.  But,  if  the  news  of  yesterday  be  true,  there  is 

(231) 


232  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

a  great  point  gained.  Advice  is  received  that  the  Elect- 
ress  Palatine  is  beyond  hope.  Should  she  die,  the  Elector 
would  marry  again  on  the  morrow,  and  affairs  may  and 
must  assume  a  different  face.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  it 
is  difficult  to  reflect  too  seriously  on  this  subject.  For 
my  own  part,  unless  my  instructions  and  my  means  are 
amplified,  I  only  can  observe,  according  to  the  best  of 
my  power,  the  internal  acts  of  government  and  the 
Court. 

The  reason  that  Count  Schulemburg,  one  of  the  Min- 
isters of  State,  has  demanded  to  retire  is,  in  part,  that 
he  was  charged  to  carry  the  capitation  tax  into  execu- 
tion, which  he  neither  conceived  nor  approved,  and 
which  he  truly  regarded  as  a  very  unpopular,  if  not  a 
very  odious,  office.  This  Minister,  a  man  of  understand- 
ing, and  who  would  have  again  been  at  the  head  of  af- 
fairs if,  at  his  first  cause  of  disgust,  he  had  determined 
to  resign  his  place,  is  infinitely  disagreeable  to  the  do- 
mestic agents.  The  long  favor  he  has  enjoyed,  his  rapid 
fortune,  and  his  watchful  perspicacity,  have  angered  or 
disturbed  all  his  rivals.  Neither  is  he  one  of  those 
pliant  instruments  that  will  bend  into  any  form.  The 
incapacity  of  most  of  the  other  Ministers  afforded  him 
the  pretense  of  being  obstinate  in  opinion.  The  ab- 
surdities of  the  courtiers,  not  to  say  their  extravagant 
follies,  emboldened  him  to  return  that  contempt  which 
the  reputation  of  his  abilities  incites  with  usury.  For 
what  will  not  such  a  reputation  eradicate,  especially  in  a 
country  where  men  are  so  scarce?  But  if,  as  it  is  said  (I 
have  not  yet  had  time  to  verify  the  fact),  there  be  a  coali- 
tion between  Struensee  and  Welner,  Schulemburg  is  un- 
done, for  they  will  no  longer  stand  in  need  of  him.  As  he 
made  illness  his  pretense,  the  King,  in  a  very  friendly 
letter,  only  accepted  his  resignation  per  interim  and  on 
condition  that  his  signature  should  sanction  whatever  re- 
lated to  his  department. 

Meantime  the  Aulic  *  systems,  that  of  mysticism,  and 
the  favor  of  the  mystics,  are  continued,  or,  rather, 
increased  and  adorned.  The  Duke  of  Weimar  arrived 
here  last  night.  He  has  the  apartments  of  the  Duke  of 

*  AULIC,  that  is,  Court. 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  233 

Brunswick  at  the  palace.  This  Prince,  the  great  apostle 
of  the  fashionable  sect,  and  of  whom  I  spoke  in  my 
dispatches  from  Brunswick  and  Magdeburg,  had  long  had 
the  character  of  being  only  an  arbiter  elegantiarum;  a 
zealous  promoter  of  letters  and  arts;  an  economist  by 
system;  and  a  spendthrift  by  temperament.  I  some 
months  since  suspected  him  of  military  enthusiasm.  It 
is  now  avowed.  He  comes  to  enter  into  the  Prussian 
service.  Such  generals  will  never  renew  the  War  of 
Seven  Years. 

In  other  respects  affairs  continue  the  same.  The  King 
invited  himself  to  sup  with  Prince  Henry  to-day.  The 
Prince,  who  continues  his  awkward  plans,  stifling  his 
pent-up  rage,  has  informed  the  foreign  ambassadors  that 
the  doors  of  his  palace  would  be  opened  every  Monday, 
and  that,  if  they  thought  proper  to  form  card  parties 
there,  he  should  receive  them  with  pleasure.  He  wishes 
to  change  the  custom  which  hitherto  has  prohibited  all 
who  appertain  to  the  corps  diplomatique  from  eating 
with  princes  of  the  blood,  and  insensibly  to  invite  them 
to  suppers.  His  credit  is  at  the  lowest  ebb ;  yet  I  still 
believe,  would  he  persevere  in  silence,  abstain  from  all 
pretensions,  impatience,  and  avidity  of  power,  he  would 
highly  embarrass  the  opposite  party,  and  would  at  length 
be  triumphant. 

Murmurs  become  general  against  the  obscure  agents 
of  the  Cabinet ;  and  the  nobility,  now  neglected  to  make 
room  for  the  Saxons,  would  be  better  pleased  to  behold 
a  prince  at  the  head  of  administration  than  obscure 
clerks,  who  never  can  acquire  great  and  acknowledged 
fortunes,  except  by  great  changes.  Yet  the  aristocracy 
is  little  dependent  on  such  subalterns,  and  holds  them 
in  little  dread. 

The  Duke  of  Courland  is  soon  to  arrive.  As  he  is  to 
be  reimbursed  considerable  sums,  it  is  to  be  presumed 
that  the  whole  of  the  debts  of  the  Heir  Apparent,  which 
it  is  not  decent  to  have  left  unpaid  for  several  months 
after  his  accession,  will  then  be  discharged.  This  fact, 
combined  with  the  suppers  of  the  procuresses,  the  num- 
ber of  which  suppers  increases  at  the  Princess  Frederica's, 
and  for  which  purpose  her  establishment  has  evidently 


234  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

been  granted,  seriously  attaint  the  moral  character  of 
the  King. 

Madame  de  F ,  who  would  not  depart  for  Warsaw 

without  making  some  attempt,  yesterday  had  a  very  gay 
audience  of  the  King;  an  audience  of  anecdote,  at  which 
he  complained  of  his  tiresome  trade,  and  was  earnest  in 
his  desires  that  she  should  remain  at  Berlin;  reproached 
her  with  having  stolen  the  portrait  of  Suck  from  him; 
and  complained  to  her  of  the  impoliteness  and  blunders 

of  the  Prince  de  P ,  who  thought  his  very  daughter, 

the  Princess  Frederica,  ugly  and  slatternly.  This  con- 
tinued an  hour,  and  probably  if  Madame  de  F had 

come  hither  with  greater  precaution  and  for  a  longer 
time,  she  might  have  had  some  success.  But  it  is  a  be- 
ing so  perverse,  so  avaricious,  and  so  dangerous,  that  it 
is  perhaps  best  she  should  travel  with  her  talents  else- 
where; to  Paris,  for  example,  where  she  is  known,  where 
she  would  not  increase  licentiousness,  and  never  could 
obtain  any  important  influence;  whereas,  if  admitted  to 
the  privy  council  of  Kings,  she  might  set  Europe  in 
flames  to  obtain  money,  or  even  for  her  own  private 
diversion.  I  took  advantage  of  the  moment  that  she 
thought  proper  to  depart  from  the  route  I  had  traced 
out,  to  reiterate  my  information  that  her  proceedings 
might  have  consequences  much  more  serious  than  result 
from  wounded  vanity,  and  to  declare  I  no  longer  should 
be  a  party  concerned. 

1.  Because  it  did  not  become  me  to  risk  my  character, 
in  an  affair  where  my  advice  was  not  followed. 

2.  And   because  the    ambition  of    ladies    has  not,  can- 
not have,  the  same  motives,  principles,  proceedings,  and 
conclusions,  as    that    of    a   man    who    has    a   respect  for 
himself. 

Should  she  succeed,  which  appears  to  me  impossible, 
she  is  too  much  in  my  power  to  escape  my  influence. 

POSTSCRIPT. —  Lord  Dalrymple,  it  is  reported,  is  recalled, 
and  Ewart  remains  at  the  head  of  the  embassy  without 
a  superior.  Dalrymple  is  a  man  of  honor  and  sense; 
sometimes  wearisome,  because  he  is  continually  wearied, 
but  endowed  with  more  understanding  than  will  be 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  235 

believed  by  those  who  have  not  carefully  observed  him; 
and  also  with  generous,  liberal,  and  fixed  principles.  If 
pacific  coalition  be  sincerely  intended,  it  is  necessary  to 
bring  Dalrymple  Ambassador  to  Paris.  With  respect  to 
Ewart,  I  believe  the  Cabinet  at  St.  James's  finds  it  con- 
venient to  maintain  a  spy  here,  who  is  the  intimate 
friend  of  one  Minister  and  the  son-in-law  of  another. 
But  what  can  be  alleged  in  excuse  of  the  Cabinet  of 
Berlin,  that  shall  tolerate  such  an  encumbrance  ?  This 
is  but  public  report,  which  I  suspect. 

Commissions  of  inquiry  begin  to  be  fashionable;  one 
has  lately  been  appointed  to  examine  the  monopoly  of 
sugars.  The  people  of  Hamburg  offered  to  supply  the 
same  articles  at  less  than  half  price. 

Another  to  examine  the  cloth  manufactory. 

Another  the  wood  monopoly,  which  is  to  be  reduced 
to  half  its  present  price  (independent  of  the  suppression 
of  the  company,  by  which  it  is  furnished).  But  how  ? 
By  what  means  ?  The  change  is  assuredly  one  of  the 
most  urgent,  and  the  most  profitable  that  could  be  made 
for  the  country ;  but  the  abolition  of  all  these  monopolies, 
sugar  excepted,  which  is  granted  to  an  individual,*  sup- 
poses the  destruction  of  the  Maritime  Company,  that 
strange  firm,  which  has  promised  the  proprietors  a  div- 
idend of  ten  per  cent,  be  circumstances  what  they  may. 
This  fantastic  superstructure  cannot  be  pulled  down, 
unless  by  a  very  able  hand,  without  risk  of  danger  from 
its  ruins.  Therefore,  in  his  letter  to  the  Minister 
Schulemburg,  the  King  renounces  this  project,  and  com- 
mands that  it  should  be  contradicted  in  all  the  public 
papers.  What  a  fluctuation  of  plans,  orders,  and  in- 
tentions! What  poverty  of  power  and  of  means! 

*  Splittgerber  and  Co.,  who  had  not  only  the  monopoly  of  all  the 
refining  houses,  but  also  a  foundry  for  muskets,  small  arms,  sword 
blades,  etc.,  etc.;  a  manufactory  for  hardware,  cutlery,  etc.,  etc.,  and 
another  for  braziery ;  all  monopolies  that  have  existed  for  many  years, 
and  all  granted  by  Frederick  II.,  the  King  who  is  so  emphatically  and 
so  falsely,  held  up  as  the  mirror  of  wisdom,  and  the  demigod  to  whom 
future  ages  are  to  erect  statues,  build  temples,  burn  incense,  and  fall 
down  in  adoration. 


LETTER    L. 

November  24th,  1786. 

COUNT  HERTZBERG  has  made  a  new  attempt  to  inter- 
fere in  the  affairs  of  Holland,  which  had  been 
interdicted  him  by  the  King,  and  has  presented  a 
memorial  on  the  subject,  in  which  he  pretends  to  prove 
that  crowned  heads  have  several  times  stood  forth  as 
mediators  between  the  States  and  the  Stadtholder;  and 
that  the  insidious  reply  of  France  stated  that  as  fact 
which  was  in  dispute.  Prince  Henry  believes  this  me- 
morial has  produced  some  effect.  I  have  my  reasons  for 
being  of  a  different  opinion;  however,  I  informed  him 
that,  if  he  could  procure  me  a  copy,  its  futility  should 
soon  be  demonstrated.  I  doubt  whether  he  has  even 
thus  much  power. 

Here  let  me  remark,  we  are  reconciled.  I  refused 
two  invitations,  and  he  has  made  every  kind  of  advance 
to  me,  which  decorum  requires  I  should  receive  with 
politeness. 

The  journey  of  the  Duke  of  Weimar  certainly  had  no 
other  end  but  that  of  his  admission  into  the  Prussian 
service,  which  is  to  strengthen  the  rising  fame  of  the 
Germanic  confederation.  This  prince  in  reality  warmly 
protects  the  system  of  those  who  find,  in  the  depth  of 
their  mystical  abilities,  rules  for  governing  a  kingdom. 
The  favor  in  which  these  systems  are  held  continually 
increases  in  fervor;  or  rather,  is  become  visible,  for  it 
never  was  cool.  The  brother  of  the  Margrave  of  Baden, 
a  fashionable  enthusiast,  has  a  natural  son,  for  whom 
he  wishes  to  provide.  This  is  the  great  affair  of  which 
he  is  come  hither  personally  to  treat,  and  he  has  met  a 
miraculously  kind  welcome. 

Business  is  not  quite  so  well.  There  is  so  much  con- 
fusion in  domestic  affairs  that  the  King  only  issues 
(236) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  237 

money  on  account  to  the  various  officers  of  the  house- 
hold. It  is  determined  that  all  his  debts,  while  Prince 
of  Prussia,  are  to  be  paid;  that  the  Prince  Royal  shall 
have  an  establishment,  and  a  table  of  ten  covers;  that 
the  Princess  Frederica  shall  have  another,  equal  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Queen;  and  that  the  period  when 
these  arrangements  are  to  take  place  is  to  be  after  the 
statements  of  expense  have  been  formed. 
The  army  is  discontented. 

1.  Because  the  King   appears  on  the  parade  only  once 
a  week. 

2.  Because  commissions  of  major  and  lieutenant  colonel 
are    multiplied   to    satiety  (for  example,  all    the   captains 
who  have  been    in    actual    service    have    obtained    them; 
this  is  the  second  chapter  of   titles,  and  patents   of   no- 
bility,  by   scores);    a    favor  which    never  was    formerly 
granted,  not    even    at    the    solicitation    of    the    greatest 
princes.  * 

3.  Because    much    is   talked   of,    little    done;    because 
few  are  punished,  and  little  is  required;  and,  in  a  word, 
because  the  army  does  not  now,  as  formerly,  absorb  the 
whole  attention  of  the  Sovereign. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Manstein  diminishes  the  credit 
of  the  aid-de-camp  Goltz,  who  has  become  a  count,  and 
who,  in  what  relates  to  military  affairs,  has  evidently 
more  influence  than  his  rivals.  He  has  great  abilities, 
without  having  such  as  are  necessary  to  that  place, 
which,  in  fact,  is  equivalent  to  that  of  minister  for  the 
war  department. 

It  is  subject  of  astonishment  to  the  few  men  of 
observation  who  are  attentive  to  whatever  may  lead  to 
a  knowledge  of  the  moral  character  of  the  new  King, 
that  he  should  behave  so  coldly  to  one  of  his  aids-de- 
camp named  Boulet,  whom  I  have  before  several  times 
mentioned.  Boulet  is  a  French  refugee  of  no  superior 
understanding;  an  honest  man,  with  little  ambition;  a 
very  ordinary  engineer,  though  here  a  distinguished  one, 
because  here  there  are  none.  He  has  been  twenty  years 
attached  to  the  Monarch,  but  never  was  admitted  a  party 
in  his  secret  pleasures,  which  were  formerly  almost  neces- 

*  Rank  in  the  Prussian  service  was  formerly  confined  to  seniority. 


238  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

sary  to  support  the  solitude  of  Potsdam  and  the  hatred 
of  the  late  King.  He  neither  increases  nor  diminishes 
in  favor,  and  his  influence  is  almost  a  nullity.  Such  a 
repugnance  for  a  man  of  some  consequence  in  his  pro- 
fession, and  who  neither  can  offend  nor  disgust,  is 
enigmatical. 

It  is  nearly  certain  that  the  capitation  plan  will  be 
rejected.  This  hasty  expedient  would  not  have  been  a 
substitute  equal  to  their  wants.  But  you  must  feel  how 
much  so  many  variations  will  diminish  all  confidence  in 
the  subaltern  and  concealed  administrators,  who  act  in- 
stead of  ministers ;  and  how  every  circumstance  concurs  to 
render  a  prime  minister  necessary.  Nothing  seems  deter- 
mined on  except  a  desire  to  change.  There  is  no  system ; 
for  I  cannot  call  the  vague  desire  of  easing  the  people 
by  that  term ;  nor  any  regular  plans,  formed  from  knowl- 
edge, examination,  and  reflection. 

None  of  the  difficulties,  for  example,  had  been  fore- 
seen that  arise  from  the  suppression  of  the  monopoly 
and  administration  of  tobacco,  which  afforded  an  asylum 
to  twelve  hundred  invalids,  army  subalterns,  and  even 
lieutenants.  These  invalids  must  live,  and  be  maintained 
by  the  King.  Nor  is  this  all.  Shares  in  the  tobacco 
company  originally  cost  a  thousand  crowns,  and  brought 
in  eleven  per  cent;  the  price  afterward  rose  to  fourteen 
hundred  crowns.  The  contract  granted  by  the  late  King 
was  to  be  in  force  to  the  year  1793.  Should  the  King 
buy  in  these  shares,  at  a  thousand  crowns  each,  this 
would  be  unjust;  since  they  have  been  purchased  at 
fourteen  hundred,  on  the  faith  of  a  contract  of  which 
seven  years  are  unexpired.  If  he  should  pay  interest  for 
them,  at  the  rate  of  eight  per  cent  till  the  year  1793, 
he  must  then  himself  become  a  loser.  Would  it  not 
have  been  better  not  to  have  made  any  change  till  the 
contract  should  expire  of  itself,  or  till  he  had  found  a 
proper  substitute  ?  The  effects  which  are  the  represent- 
atives of  the  capital,  consist  in  utensils,  warehouses, 
houses,  carriages,  etc.,  etc.  These  cannot  all  be  sold 
without  loss,  which  must  likewise  fall  on  the  King.  The 
monopoly  was  burdened  with  pensions,  bestowed  on  per- 
sons by  whom  they  had  been  merited;  or,  if  you  please, 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  239 

obtained  for  that  very  affair  which  paid  those  pensions.* 
They  must  hereafter  be  discharged  by  some  other  fund, 
etc. 

Heaven  forbid  I  should  pretend  such  difficulties  ought 
not  to  be  surmounted!  Improvement  would  then  be  ac- 
complished. But  they  ought  to  have  been  foreseen, 
which  they  have  not;  so  that  the  public  only  perceives, 
in  this  suppression,  a  real  evil  in  return  for  an  unasked 
good.  This  mania  to  undersell  the  smugglers,  or  to  de- 
stroy illicit  trade,  if  great  care  be  not  taken,  will  be 
more  injurious  to  the  people  than  the  trade  itself  was  to 
the  State.  Opposition  to  contraband  trade  ought  to  be 
the  consequence  of  one  comprehensive  system;  and  those 
are  short-sighted  views  which  endeavor  to  correct  partial 
abuses,  that  appertain  to  the  general  vices  of  administra- 
tion. The  refining  of  sugar,  the  fabricating  of  arms, 
silk,  gauze,  stuffs,  cloths,  in  a  word,  whatever  relates  to 
industry,  all  are  directed  by  regulations  destructive 
to  commerce.  But  may  all  this  vanish  by  a  single  act  of 
volition  ?  Impossible ;  without  producing  convulsions  in 
the  State.  And  thus  are  truth  and  benevolence  discred- 
ited, and  kings  discouraged.  Woe  to  him  who  pulls 
down  without  precaution! 

The  principles  of  the  two  Kings,  concerning  their  per- 
sonal dignity,  appear  to  be  so  different  as  to  give  room 
for  reflection,  relative  to  this  country.  When  Frederick  II. 
established  the  coffee  monopoly,  the  citizens  of  Potsdam 
were  daring  enough  to  load  a  cart  with  coffeepots  and 
coffeemills,  to  drive  it  through  the  town  and  overturn 
it  into  the  river.  Frederick,  who  was  a  spectator  of  this 
burlesque  procession,  opened  his  window  and  laughed 
heartily.  Here  we  have  an  anecdote  of  him  whom  they 
call  the  Tiberius  of  Prussia.  The  following  is  another 
of  the  Prussian  Titus: 

The  day  before  yesterday,  the  clerk  of  a  merchant, 
named  Olier,  was  imprisoned ;  and  he  was  not  informed, 
till  the  morning  after,  that  the  cause  of  his  imprison- 
ment was  some  trifling  speech  relative  to  the  King;  and 

*  The  author  is  here,  as  in  many  other  places,  obscure.  The  mean- 
ing most  probably  is  that  they  were  pensions  granted  in  return  for 
the  sums  that  were  risked  at  the  establishment  of  the  monopoly. 


24o  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

that,  should  he  commit  a  similar  offense,  the  dungeon 
would  give  a  good  account  of  him!  Such  are  the  first 
fruits  of  a  gloomy  internal  administration,  of  which  the 
vanity  and  poverty  of  mind  of  the  King  have  been  pro- 
ductive. What  a  foreboding  of  tyranny, —  whether  it  be 
royal,  or,  which  is  worse,  subaltern!  Under  what  cir- 
cumstances, and  in  what  a  country!  There,  where  the 
master,  whose  vanity  is  so  irascible,  wishes  to  appear 
good;  and  where  there  is  no  counterpoise  to  his  power, 
in  the  public  opinion;  for  the  public  has  no  opinion! 

The  commission  of  inquiry,  sitting  on  Launay,  remains 
silent,  retards  its  proceedings,  forces  or  seeks  for  facts, 
and  decides  on  nothing.  Du  Bosc  is  very  industrious. 
Two  merchants  are  arrived  from  each  province,  who  are 
to  give  their  advice,  relative  to  the  best  manner  of  ren- 
dering trade  flourishing.  It  is  not  yet  known  here  that, 
though  merchants  only  should  be  trusted  with  the  execu- 
tion of  a  commercial  plan,  they  never  should  be  consulted 
concerning  a  general  system;  because  their  views  and 
their  interests  are  always  partial.  One  of  them,  however, 
has  given  advice  which  is  very  sage,  in  the  present  state 
of  affairs;  and  that  is  to  forbid  the  silk  manufactories, 
which  are  all  on  the  royal  establishment,  to  make  any 
but  plain  silks.  Should  they  determine  so  to  do,  the 
King  of  Prussia  may  supply  Sweden,  Poland,  and  a  part 
of  Russia. 

The  Princess  Elizabeth,  the  divorced  consort  of  the 
King,  has  requested  to  have  a  place  five  miles  from  Ber- 
lin, and  that  his  Majesty  would  appoint  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  who  shall  be  her  attendants.  It  is  supposed 
that  the  attempts  this  Princess  makes  have  been  suggested 
to  her  by  an  adroit  and  intriguing  officer;  but  it  is  not 
she  who  will  become  formidable  to  the  Queen,  though  I 
really  dare  not  say  so  much  for  Mademoiselle  Voss.  What 
must  be  the  destiny  of  a  country  which  soon  is  to  be 
divided  among  priests,  mystics,  and  prostitutes  ? 

In  despite  of  all  my  diligence  to  divine  what  is  in 
treaty  with  the  Court  of  Vienna,  I  can  only  form  conjec- 
tures. However,  when  I  reflect  that  the  Prussian  Am- 
bassador to  Austria  is  an  incapable  person,  Count  Podewils ; 
and  that  the  Emperor's  Ambassador,  Prince  Reuss  has 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  241 

not  altered  his  conduct;  that  Prince  Henry,  though  gen- 
erally ill-informed,  would  have  some  positive  intelligence, 
if  anything  positive  had  been  done,  and  that  he  has  only 
vague  suspicion, —  I  scarcely  can  believe  any  important 
or  probable  revolution  is  on  the  tapis.  Did  the  Prince 
(Henry)  possess  but  one  of  the  twenty  wills  of  which  he 
is  composed,  and  which  do  not  all  form  the  equivalent 
of  a  whole,  so  that  he  could  expend  his  money  properly, 
and  act  with  consistency,  his  superior  information  must 
give  him  a  great  ascendency  in  the  Cabinet. 

But  why  do  we  not  rid  ourselves  of  this  complication 
of  political  affairs,  by  at  once  changing  our  foreign  sys- 
tem, and  breaking  down  the  only  opposing  barrier  ?  I 
mean  to  say,  by  respectable  arrangements  and  sincere 
advances.  Why  do  we  not  stifle  commercial  jealousy, 
that  mother  of  national  animosity,  which  has  silenced 
good  sense,  and  pompously  predicted,  supported  by  the 
sophisms  of  mercantile  cupidity,  that  total  ruin,  whether 
it  be  for  France  or  England,  must  be  the  result  of  the 
unfavorable  balance  to  which  a  freedom  of  trade  could 
not  fail  to  give  birth  ?  Is  it,  then,  so  difficult  to  demon- 
strate that  the  trade  of  France  might  be  much  more  ad- 
vantageous to  Great  Britain  than  that  of  any  other 
country,  and  vice  versa  ?  Who  that  will  but  open  his  eyes 
will  not  see  the  reason  ?  It  is  in  the  will  of  Nature, 
by  which  those  monarchies  are  nearer  each  other  than 
they  are  to  other  countries.  The  returns  of  the  trade 
which  might  be  carried  on  between  the  southern  coast 
of  England  and  northwest  of  France  might  take  place 
five  or  six  times  a  year,  as  in  the  more  internal  com- 
merce. The  capital  employed  in  this  trade  might  there- 
fore, in  both  countries,  be  productive  of  five  or  six  times 
its  present  quantity  of  industry,  and  might  afford  employ- 
ment and  subsistence  to  six  times  as  many  inhabitants 
as  the  same  capital  could  effect  in  most  other  branches 
of  foreign  trade.  Between  those  parts  of  France  and 
Great  Britain  which  are  most  distant  from  each  other, 
the  returns  might  at  least  be  made  once  a  year;  and 
would  consequently  be  thrice  as  profitable  as  the  trade, 
formerly  so  much  vaunted,  with  North  America;  in  which 
the  returns  usually  took  place  only  once  in  three,  and 

16 


242  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

very  frequently  only  once  in  four  or  five  years.  The 
sage  Smith  asks,  <(  If  we  consider  its  population,  wants, 
and  wealth,  is  not  France  at  least  a  market  eight  times 
more  extensive  (for  England),  and,  by  reason  of  its  quick 
returns,  twenty-four  times  more  advantageous  than  ever 
was  that  of  the  English  colonies  of  North  America  ? }>  * 
It  is  not  less,  or  rather,  it  is  more  evident  that  the  trade 
with  Great  Britain  would  be  in  an  equal  degree  useful  to 
France,  in  proportion  to  the  wealth,  population,  and 
proximity  of  the  two  countries.  It  would  eventually  have 
the  same  superiority  over  that  which  France  has  made 
with  her  colonies.  Oh,  human  folly!  What  labors  do 
we  undertake  to  deprive  ourselves  of  the  benefits  of  Na- 
ture! How  prodigious  a  difference  between  that  trade 
which  the  politics  of  the  two  nations  have  thought  it 
right  to  discourage,  and  that  which  has  been  the  most 
favored!  It  appears  to  me  that  a  work  which  should 
develop  these  ideas,  and  which  begin  no  longer  to  be 
thought  monstrous  by  the  English,  would  be  very  useful, 
and  could  not  be  intrusted  to  a  man  of  too  great 
abilities. 

POSTSCRIPT. —  I  have  circumstantial  evidence  that  the 
King  is  more  than  ever  indolent.  Letters  are  answered 
in  eight  or  ten  days,  and  in  a  more  long  and  careful 
manner  than  under  the  late  King;  which  sufficiently 
proves  that  secretaries  have  great  interference.  Yet 
what  must  we  say  of  a  Cabinet  in  which  the  King  never 
acts,  although  it  is  impossible  to  cite  any  minister  whose 
influence  has  effected  such  or  such  a  thing  ?  Even  into 
the  assembly  of  the  general  directory,  which  sits  twice  a 
week,  the  King  never  comes.  And  this  is  the  King  who 
wishes  to  change  the  fiscal  system !  None  but  a  Hercules 
can  cleanse  the  Augean  stables. 

*  Either  we  have  not  been  fortunate  enough  to  find  the  passage  the 
author  quotes,  or  he  has  taken  the  sense  of  various  passages.  Smith 
says,  (<A  capital  employed  in  the  home  trade  will  sometimes  make 
twelve  operations,  or  be  sent  out  and  returned  twelve  times,  before  a 
capital  employed  in  the  foreign  trade  of  consumption  has  made  one. 
If  the  capitals  are  equal,  therefore,  the  one  will  give  four-and-twenty 
times  more  encouragement  and  support  to  the  industry  of  the  country 
than  the  other. » —Smith's  «Wealth  of  Nations,*  vol.  ii.,  p.  61,  edit.  1786. 


LETTER  LI. 

November  z8th,  1786. 

PEOPLE  are  not  agreed  concerning  the  kind  of  services 
which  the  committee  of  merchants,  convoked  from 
the  different  provinces,  may  render  Government. 
These  good  folks  are  highly  astonished  to  hear  them- 
selves consulted  on  affairs  of  State;  for  there  is  as  great 
a  distance  between  them  and  Mont-Audouin  and  Pre"- 
mores,  as  there  is  between  the  Prussian  Ministers  and 
our  Sully  and  Colbert.  The  question  should  be  to  reverse 
the  general  and  fundamental  system,  and  they  seek  only 
palliatives.  The  blood  is  infected,  and  instead  of  purify- 
ing it,  they  endeavor  but  to  heal  this  or  that  ulcer. 
They  will  inflame  the  gangrene,  and  render  the  virus 
more  envenomed. 

There  are  great  disputes  concerning  the  manufactures. 
But,  good  God !  ought  they  to  begin  with  these  ?  And, 
should  they  well  and  clearly  have  determined  which 
were  necessary  to  preserve,  and  which  to  neglect,  ought 
they  not,  before  they  prescribe  rules,  to  assume  as  a 
datum  —  that  Berlin  is  not  a  place  for  manufacturers; 
because  that  the  dearness  of  the  labor,  local,  and  national 
inconveniences,  etc.,  etc.,  are  there  united;  and  because 
that  the  establishment  of  manufactures  must  there  be- 
come a  disastrous  extravagance  ?  for  which  reason  the 
manufacturers  themselves  carry  on  a  contraband  trade, 
and  sell  French  for  Prussian  stuffs.  As  they  have  no 
competitors,  they  affix  what  price  they  please  on  their 
merchandise;  and,  as  nothing  is  easier  than  to  smuggle, 
they  take  a  part  of  their  goods  to  the  fairs  of  Frank- 
fort, which  they  sell  or  do  not  sell,  as  it  shall  happen, 
and  purchase  Lyons  silks,  to  which  they  affix  Berlin 
stamps,  and  enter  them  without  any  other  precaution, 
or  the  least  risk:  since  the  customhouse  officers  of  the 
barriers,  who  are  invalids  either  of  the  Court  or  army, 

(243) 


244  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

cannot  distinguish  whether  what  is  shown  them  is  taffeta 
or  satin;  still  less,  whether  it  be  woven  at  Lyons  or 
Berlin.  This  city  neither  possesses  industry,  emulation, 
taste,  genius,  nor  money,  to  effect  such  changes.  Another 
age,  and  I  know  not  how  many  transitions  among  the 
Germans,  are  necessary  for  them  to  imitate  that  luxury 
of  embellishment  for  which  they  have  the  folly  to  wish. 
Incapable  of  choosing  between  that  which  is  possible 
and  proper,  and  that  which  is  chimerical  and  injurious, 
without  means,  principles,  or  system,  the  present  at- 
tempts of  these  men,  to  which  they  owe  their  ephemeral 
existence,  will  have  no  other  effect  than  that  of  leading, 
the  King  first,  and  afterward  the  vulgar  and  the  foolish, 
to  believe  that  the  evil  is  irreparable. 

The  inheritance  of  the  margraviate  of  Schwedt  is  an 
affair  at  this  moment,  which,  in  other  hands,  might 
have  important  consequences.  The  Margrave  approaches 
his  end.  After  the  partition  of  Poland,  the  late  King 
wrote  to  his  brother,  Prince  Henry,  that  he  was  desirous 
of  bestowing  on  him  a  peculiar  mark  of  his  friendship 
and  gratitude,  for  the  service  he  had  rendered  the  State. 
Frederick  thought  he  should  have  rid  himself  of  his 
promise  by  a  statue;  but  he  was  privately  given  to 
understand  that  fame  was  left  to  the  care  of  posterity, 
and  that  the  present  question  was  an  increase  of  pos- 
session. A  few  months  afterward,  the  Margrave  of 
Schwedt,  brother  of  the  present  Margrave,  died ;  the  King 
seized  the  occasion  to  release  himself  from  his  word.  In 
a  very  authentic  patent,  and  at  a  long  term,  he  conferred 
on  Prince  Henry  the  reversion  of  the  margraviate,  on 
condition  that  he  should  discharge  all  the  burdens  with 
which  this  great  fief  is  loaded.  Frederick  dies,  and  his 
successor  declares  that  all  survivances,  and  donations  in 
future,  etc.,  are  null,  and  that  he  will  not  confirm  them. 
Prince  Henry  finds  himself  among  the  number  of  those 
on  whom  reversions  were  bestowed.  There  is  little 
probability  these  lands  will  be  given  him.  The  question 
is,  will  he  or  will  he  not  have  any  compensation  ? 

Prince  Henry  certainly  has  pretenses  to  exclaim  against 
ingratitude,  and  exclaim  he  will.  There  it  will  end. 
Melancholy  mad  at  one  moment,  he  will  rave  the  next; 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  245 

and  thus,  giving  vent  to  his  griefs,  will  save  his  life ;  for 
mute  affliction  only  is  dangerous. 

Those,  however,  who  are  not  among  his  partisans,  will 
observe  this  proceeding  with  the  greatest  inquietude, 
because  it  begins  to  appear  that  even  the  personal  prom- 
ises of  the  King  are  susceptible  of  wavering.  I  spoke 
to  you  in  one  of  my  dispatches  of  the  restitution  of 
some  bailliages  to  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  which  had 
been  promised  to  the  envoy  of  the  Duke  by  the  King 
himself.  He  has  since  withdrawn,  or  at  least  suspended, 
his  promise.  So  much  facility  in  departing  from  recent 
engagements,  combined  with  the  clamors  of  the  people, 
and  the  exclusive  contracts  that  are  trodden  under  foot 
without  pity,  appear  to  be  but  ill  omens.  It  has  been 
inserted,  for  example,  BY  COMMAND,  in  the  public  papers, 
<(  that  the  King  declares  to  all  the  army  clothiers  that, 
from  paternal  motives,* — all  of  which  have  been  an- 
nounced with  emphasis,  as  you  will  see  in  every  gazette, 
— «  the  King  annuls  their  contracts ;  even  those  that  have 
been  recently  confirmed.*  Which  clause  is  the  more 
gratuitously  odious  and  absurd,  as  he  had  not  confirmed 
anyone;  he,  therefore,  need  not  have  taken  the  trouble 
SOLEMNLY  to  inform  his  subjects  that  he  knew  very  well 
how,  when  occasion  should  serve,  SOLEMNLY  to  break  his 
word. 

The  King  spoke  to  me  yesterday  concerning  the  woolen 
manufactory.  I  endeavored  to  make  him  understand 
that,  before  we  pulled  down  our  house,  we  should  know 
where  to  find  a  lodging,  or  how  we  might  dispose  of  the 
ruins.  He  answered  me,  laughing,  *  Oh !  Schmits  is  your 
banker.*  (He  is  the  contractor  for  this  manufactory.) 
«Very  true,  Sire,*  replied  I;  "but  he  has  not  hitherto 
made  me  a  present  of  the  money  which  has  been  remit- 
ted me  through  his  hands.*  This  may  show  you  what 
engines  are  set  at  work  to  keep  me  at  a  distance.  The 
following  is  a  more  circumstantial  proof: 

I  was  six  days  very  ill,  and  did  not  make  my  appear- 
ance at  Court,  which  I  the  less  regretted  because  that 
nothing  is  learned  in  such  grand  company.  The  day  be- 
fore yesterday,  the  King  said  at  his  Lotto,  (<  Where  is  the 
Comte  de  Mirabeau  ?  It  is  an  age  since  I  saw  him.  * 


246  SECRET    COURT   MEMOIRS 

<(That  is  not  astonishing,  Sire,"  said  one  of  the  house- 
hold. w  He  passes  his  time  at  the  house  of  Struensee, 
with  Messrs.  Biester  and  Nicolai. w  You  must  understand 
that  Biester  and  Nicolai  are  two  learned  Germans,  who 
have  written  much  against  Lavater  and  the  mystics; 
that  they  never  enter  the  house  of,  nor  are  they,  as  I 
believe,  personally  acquainted  with,  Struensee.  The  in- 
tention was  to  lead  the  King  to  suppose  I  was  an  anti- 
mystic. 

The  appointment  of  Count  Charles  Briihl  to  the  place 
of  Governor  of  the  Prince  Royal  has  made  the  party 
more  than  ever  triumphant.  To  the  merit  of  appertaining 
to  that  honorable  sect,  Count  Leppel,  the  most  incapable 
and  ridiculous  of  men,  is  indebted  for  his  Swedish  Em- 
bassy ;  as  are  Baron  Doernberg  for  favors  of  every  kind, 
Prince  Frederick  for  his  intimacy,  the  Duke  of  Weimar, 
the  brother  of  the  Margrave  of  Baden,  and  the  Prince 
of  Dessau  for  their  success,  and  the  courtiers  that  sur- 
round the  King  for  their  influence  and  favor.  It  looks 
like  a  tacit  confederacy,  and  that  there  is  a  determina- 
tion to  admit  none  but  proved  and  fervent  sectaries  into 
administration.  No  one  dares  combat  them;  everybody 
bows  before  them.  The  slaves  of  the  Court  and  the 
city,  who  were  not  the  first  to  yield,  mutter  disapproba- 
tion, and,  by  degrees,  will  range  themselves  on  the  side 
of  the  prevailing  party. 

There  is  no  parasite,  however  great,  that  attempts  to 
excuse  the  prostitution  of  titles,  patents  of  nobility,  ribbons, 
academical  places,  and  military  promotions,  which  daily 
is  aggravated.  Seventeen  majors,  for  example,  have  been 
made,  merely  in  acquittal  of  vague  and  inconsiderate 
promises ;  and  that  there  may  be  the  semblance  of  recol- 
lecting, at  LITTLE  expense,  hopes  that  had  been  given 
when  every  LITTLE  aid  was  acceptable. 

The  King  makes  himself  too  public  not  to  talk  very 
idly.  It  would  be  better  that,  at  the  commencement  of 
a  reign,  the  Prussian  Monarch  should  not  find  time  daily 
to  have  a  tiresome  concert,  or  a  more  languid  Lotto; 
especially  when  the  world  knows  the  nothings,  or  the 
worse,  that  employ  his  mornings.  He  more  and  more 
every  day,  constitutes  himself  the  redressor  of  the  wrongs 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  247 

committed  by  his  uncle.  Those  colonels  or  generals  that 
were  dismissed  return  to  the  army  with  promotions  or 
appointments  that  recompense  their  sufferings.  The 
counselors  that  formerly  were  degraded,  concerning  the 
affair  of  the  miller  Arnold,  have  been  reinstated  in  their 
functions.  To  say  the  truth,  their  punishment  was  one  of 
the  most  iniquitous  of  the  acts*  of  Frederick  II.  But  his 
principal  victim,  the  Chancellor  Ftirst,  has  hitherto  been 
forgotten.  His  great  age,  indeed,  will  not  permit  him 
to  occupy  any  post.  But  some  solemn  mark  of  good  will 
some  flattering  recompense  of  strict  justice,  while  so 
many  other  recompenses  are  granted,  which  are  favors 
that  are  often  more  than  suspicious — would  this  be  im- 
possible ? 

Under  the  late  reign,  the  mines  solely  depended  on  the 
minister  of  that  department.  An  arrangement  has  just 
been  made,  according  to  which  four  tribunals,  erected  in 
the  provinces,  greatly  moderate  his  authority;  and  this 
was  very  necessary  in  a  country  where  the  public  right 
of  the  mines  was  the  most  revolting  tyranny.  But  the 

*We  ought  to  read  PRIVATE  acts.  Arnold  held  a  mill  of  Count 
Schmettau ;  and,  being  in  arrear  for  several  years'  rent,  the  mill  was 
seized  and  sold.  Arnold  laid  a  false  complaint  against  one  Gersdorf,  for 
having  robbed  him  of  the  water  by  which  his  mill  had  been  supplied  and 
his  family  maintained.  The  King  ordered  the  sentence,  that  had  con- 
demned Arnold  to  lose  his  mill  for  the  payment  of  arrears,  to  be  revised. 
His  orders  were  obeyed.  The  judgment  was  confirmed.  Without  proper 
•examination  the  King  sent  for  the  judges,  deprived  them  of  their  places, 
condemned  them  to  pay  the  costs  of  Arnold,  sentenced  Gersdorf  to  re- 
store the  water  or  build  a  windmill,  sent  them  to  the  prison  for  malefac- 
tors, ordered  Baron  Zedlitz  to  see  punishment  inflicted  or  to  beware  of 
punishment  himself,  ruined  them  all,  and,  without  hearing  him,  com- 
manded his  Grand  Chancellor  Furst,  who  came  to  prove  that  he  could 
not  be  guilty  because  he  had  no  concern  in  the  trial,  TO  MARCH  !  and  de- 
graded him  from  all  his  dignities.  The  facts  were,  that  the  pond  of 
Gersdorf,  which  Arnold  affirmed  had  been  dug  to  his  detriment,  had  been 
a  pond  for  ages ;  that  Gersdorf  was  neither  his  landlord  nor  his  prose- 
cutor, but  Schmettau ;  that  Arnold  actually  paid  no  rent;  and  that  the 
proofs  of  the  legality  of  the  sentence,  by  which  he  had  been  cast,  were 
evident  to  all  the  judges,  none  of  whom  could  have  any  interest  in  giv- 
ing a  false  judgment.  This  act  of  tyranny  was  echoed  with  applause 
through  all  Europe,  and,  among  others,  by  the  English  newspapers, 
magazines,  annual  registers,  etc. ,  most  of  which,  with  equal  piety  and 
patriotism,  hoped  in  good  time  to  see  justice  thus  righteously  adminis- 
tered in  England. 


248  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

arrangement  does  not  announce  the  disgrace  of  Heinitz. 
He  has,  on  the  contrary,  had  several  new  departments 
committed  to  his  charge  within  this  fortnight ;  and  partic- 
ularly some  that  belonged  to  Schulemburg.  It  is  a  part 
of  the  plan  to  restore  all  things  to  the  state  in  which 
they  were  left  by  Frederick  William  in  1740.  This  crit- 
icism on  the  last  reign  may  be  vengeance  dearly  pur- 
chased. At  least  it  is  necessary  to  be  consistent;  and, 
since  the  grand  directory  has  been  restored  according  to 
its  first  institution,  it  ought  not  to  be  left  in  indolence, 
and  in  a  state  of  humiliating  insufficiency.  The  dismis- 
sion of  the  Minister  Gaudi  is  reported,  who  is  the  man 
by  whom  Government  might  best  profit,  if  he  were  em- 
ployed. This  conspiracy  against  capacity  and  knowledge, 
with  good  reason,  alarms  those  who  know  the  persons 
that  inspire  predilection. 

If  I  am  not  mistaken,  there  is  here,  at  this  moment, 
an  acquisition  to  be  made,  worthy  of  the  King  of 
France,  and  M.  de  Calonne  is  the  very  man  who  ought 
to  lay  the  proposal  before  his  Majesty.  The  illustrious 
La  Grange,  the  greatest  mathematician  that  has  ap- 
peared since  Newton,  and  who,  by  his  understanding  and 
genius,  is  the  man  in  all  Europe  who  has  most  astonished 
me;  La  Grange,  the  most  sage,  and  perhaps  the  only 
true  practical  philosopher  that  has  ever  existed;  worthy 
to  be  commended  for  the  pertinacious  calmness  of  his 
mind,  his  manners,  and  his  conduct;  in  a  word,  a  man 
affectionately  respected  by  the  small  number  of  men 
whom  he  would  admit  to  be  of  his  acquaintance ;  this  La 
Grange  has  lived  twenty  years  at  Berlin,  whither 
he  was  invited,  in  his  youth  by  the  late  King,  to  suc- 
ceed Euler,  who  had  himself  pointed  him  out  as  the 
only  man  proper  to  be  his  successor.  He  is  much  dis- 
gusted, silently  but  irremediably  disgusted,  because  that 
his  disgust  originates  in  contempt.  The  passions,  bru- 
talities, and  lunatic  boastings  of  Hertzberg;  the  addition 
of  so  many  as  Academicians  with  whom  La  Grange  can- 
not, without  blushing,  associate;  the  very  prudent  dread 
of  seeing  himself  held  in  painful  suspense,  between  the 
philosophic  repose  which  he  regards  as  the  first  good, 
and  that  respect  which  he  owes  himself,  and  which  he 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  249 

will  not  suffer  to  be  insulted;  all  induce  him  to  retire 
from  a  country  where  the  crime  of  being  a  foreigner  is  not 
to  be  forgiven,  and  where  he  will  not  support  an  existence 
which  will  only  be  tolerated.  It  cannot  be  doubted  but 
that  he  would  willingly  exchange  the  sun  and  the  coin 
of  Prussia  for  the  sun  and  the  coin  of  France,  the  only 
country  on  earth  where  men  pay  homage  to  the  genius 
of  science,  and  confer  lasting  fame;  the  only  country 
where  La  Grange,  the  grandson  of  a  Frenchman,  and 
who  gratefully  recollects  that  we  have  made  him  known 
to  Europe,  would  delight  to  live,  if  he  must  renounce 
his  old  friends  and  the  abode  of  his  youth.  Prince  Car- 
dito  di  Laffredo,  Ambassador  from  Naples  to  Copenha- 
gen, has  made  him  the  handsomest  offers,  in  the  name 
of  his  Sovereign.  He  has  received  pressing  invitations 
from  the  Grand  Duke  and  the  King  of  Sardinia.  But  all 
these  proposals  would  easily  be  forgoten,  if  put  in  com- 
petition with  ours.  And  will  not  the  King  of  France 
likewise,  aided  by  a  worthy  comptroller  general,  at 
the  time  when  he  would  extend  that  empire  of  benevo- 
lence which  appertains  to  him  alone  —  would  not  the 
King  of  France  endeavor  to  acquire  a  man  whose  merit 
is  known  to  all  Europe?  La  Grange  here  receives  a  pen- 
sion of  six  thousand  livres.  And  cannot  the  King  of 
France  dedicate  that  sum  to  the  first  mathematician  of 
the  age?  Is  it  beneath  Louis  XVI.  to  invite  a  great 
man,  from  a  miserable  academy,  who  is  there  misunder- 
stood, misallied,  and  thus,  by  the  most  noble  warfare,  to 
extirpate  the  only  literary  corps  that  has  wrestled  against 
his  proper  academies?  Would  not  this  act  of  generosity 
be  superior  to  those  that  are  usually  performed?  France, 
with  pernicious  policy,  has  been  the  asylum  of  Princes, 
with  whose  necessities  she  was  burdened.  Why  will  she 
not  welcome  a  great  man  who  would  but  add  to  her 
worth?  Has  she  so  long  enriched  others  with  her  losses, 
and  will  she  not  enrich  herself  by  others'  errors?  In 
fine,  to  speak  of  the  Minister  I  love,  one  De  Boynes  has 
given  eighteen  thousand  livres  a  year,  for  a  useless  place, 
to  one  Boscovich, —  a  man  despised  by  all  the  learned 
of  Europe,  as  a  literary  quack  of  poor  abilities ;  and  why 
will  not  M.  de  Calonne  grant  a  pension  of  two  thou- 


250  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

sand  crowns  to  the  first  man  in  Europe  of  his  class,  and 
probably  to  the  last  great  genius  the  mathematical 
sciences  shall  possess;  the  passion  for  which  diminishes, 
because  of  the  excessive  difficulties  that  are  to  be  sur- 
mounted, and  the  infinitely  few  means  of  acquiring  fame 
by  discovery? 

I  have  the  hope  exceeding!}*  at  heart,  because  I  think 
it  a  noble  one,  and  because  I  tenderly  love  the  man.  I 
entreat  I  may  have  an  immediate  answer;  for  I  own  I 
have  induced  M.  de  la  Grange  to  suspend  his  declara- 
tions on  the  propositions  that  have  been  made  him,  till 
he  has  heard  what  ours  may  be.  I  need  not  repeat 
that  —  he  whose  hands  are  tied  must  call  for  help. 


LETTER    LII. 

December  2d,  1786. 

ON  THE  29th,  between  one  and  two  o'clock,  a  person 
from  Courland  came  to  me  and  asked  for  the  Baron 
de  Nold6.  He  said  he  was  charged  with  some  secret 
commission,  and  delivered  him  a  letter  from  M.  Rum- 
mel,  his  brother-in-law,  a  Syndic  of  the  nobility,  and 
fifty  Prussian  gold  Fredericks.  The  letter  desired  Nolde" 
would  give  faith  to  what  the  bearer  should  relate,  and 
informed  him  that  the  regency  of  the  Republic  in- 
tended to  confer  on  him  the  place  of  assessor,  if  he  would 
repair  to  Courland  that  he  might  be  put  in  nomination; 
and  that  the  appointment  was  to  be  made  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year.  The  bearer  of  the  letter  said  he  had 
known  the  Baron  Nolde"  when  a  boy.  The  Baron  sup- 
posed him  to  be  an  advocate,  or  a  notary,  of  whom  he 
had  some  confused  idea.  He  neither  told  his  name, 
where  he  lodged,  how  he  traveled,  when  he  came  to 
Berlin,  nor  where  he  was  going.  Hamburg,  Liibeck, 
Vienna,  Munich,  etc.,  are  places  through  which  he  has 
passed,  or  means  to  pass.  His  journey  has  been  very 
secret,  very  enigmatical,  very  mysterious.  He  only  gave 
it  to  be  understood  that  great  changes  would  soon  be 
seen  in  Courland,  and  that  Woronzow  was  there  to  enact 
a  grand  part,  of  which  he  spoke  so  as  to  make  it  sus- 
pected he  might  become  Duke.  Such  are  the  chief  points 
of  this  odd  interview. 

We  must  combine  this  with  the  return  of  the  Duke, 
who  arrived  three  days  ago,  and  with  innumerable  indi- 
cations which  demonstrate  that  a  revolution  is  either  in 
agitation  or  preparing  in  Courland.  Consternation  has 
seized  on  the  Duke.  It  is  only  whispered,  but  it  appears 
evident  that  the  States  have  stopped  the  payment  of  his 
revenues,  because  he  does  not  expend  the  money  in  the 

(251) 


252  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

country;  and  this  is  the  least  of  the  griefs,  entertained 
at  Petersburg,  against  this  detested  man.  Certain  it  is 
that  he  has  sent  his  wife,  who  is  far  advanced  in  her 
pregnancy,  to  Mittau,  whither  he  dares  not  return  him- 
self; hoping  she  shall  be  delivered  of  a  male  child,  and 
that  this  presumptive  heir  will  reconcile  him  to  his 
country. 

Add,  further,  that  Baron  Nolde"  is  of  one  of  the  first 
houses  of  Courland;  that  his  uncle,  the  Chamberlain 
Howen,  a  capable  and  enterprising  man,  is  at  present 
first  Minister  or  Land  Marshal;  that  all  affairs  pass 
through  his  hands,  and  that  he  is  in  the  greatest  credit ; 
which,  to  say  truth,  may  be  reduced  to  this :  that  he  has 
the  power  of  selling,  with  more  or  less  meanness,  this  fine 
but  unfortunate  province;  which,  however,  should  it  be 
abandoned  by  all  its  neighbors,  cannot  act  otherwise  than 
to  bestow,  rather  than  suffer  itself  to  be  seized  upon. 
It  is  very  possible  that  the  family  of  Nolde",  which  knows 
how  much  this  studious  young  Baron  has  continually  pre- 
ferred a  civil  to  a  military  life,  has  only  thought  of 
placing1  him  advantageously.  (The  post  of  assessor, 
which  is  worth  from  four  to  five  thousand  livres  of 
Courland,  per  annum,  is  the  post  of  preferment.)  But 
it  is  equally  possible,  and,  all  circumstances  considered, 
very  probable,  that  his  assistance  is  wished  for  in  effect- 
ing a  revolution. 

This  young  Baron  is  possessed  of  honor,  information, 
and  understanding;  has  a  great  respect  for  the  rights  of 
mankind,  an  utter  hatred  for  the  Russians,  and  an  ardent 
desire  his  country  should  rather  appertain  to  any  other 
Power.  From  his  infancy  the  sport  of  chance,  ruined  by 
misfortunes  of  every  kind,  which  all  had  a  worthy  origin ; 
disgusted  with  the  gloomy  rank  of  subaltern  officer, 
which  impedes  the  progress  of  his  studies,  and  moderate 
in  his  desires,  he  would  accept  a  place  which  should  be- 
stow on  him  the  otium  cum  dignitate;  but  he  would 
not  be  the  slave  of  Russia.  He  loves  France,  and  is 
attached  to  me,  to  whom  he  thinks  himself  obliged.  He 
is  desirous  of  serving  his  country,  the  Cabinet  of  Ver- 
sailles, and  his  friend.  The  indecision  of  his  mind  must 
have  been  afflicting,  especially  under  circumstances  when, 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  253 

laboring  for  these  six  months  like  a  galley  slave,  and 
certainly  in  a  manner  more  useful  than  had  he  been 
mounting  guard,  you  have  even  neglected  to  prolong 
his  furlough.  This,  at  least,  was  perplexing.  I  have 
decided  for  him. 

Making  myself  responsible  for  this  prolongation,  which 
it  would  be  so  iniquitous  to  refuse,  and  which  surely 
will  be  granted  if  it  be  only  out  of  respect  to  me,  who 
find  his  coadjutorship  necessary;  imagining  he  still  has 
the  right  of  returning  into  Courland  by  throwing  up  his 
commission,  or  even  without  throwing  it  up,  by  suffer- 
ing another  nomination  to  take  place;  convinced  that  no 
one  can  inform  us  more  exactly  of  the  situation  of  the 
country  in  which  he  has  so  many  relations;  persuaded 
that  this  is  an  important  step  for  several  reasons,  the 
principal  of  which  I  shall  presently  demonstrate,  and  not 
believing  (independent  of  the  expense  of  a  journey  of 
more  than  four  hundred  leagues)  that  I  should  be  justi- 
fied in  absenting  myself  without  having  received  express 
orders;  confiding  in  the  honor  of  this  affectionate  young 
gentleman,  as  well  because  of  the  recommendations  of 
those  to  whom  he  is  intimately  known,  as  from  having 
myself  proved  his  principles  and  his  conduct;  and  still 
farther  convinced  that  confidence  is  the  most  powerful 
of  motives  with  men  of  honor, —  I  have  thought  it  the 
most  prudent  mode  to  suffer  him  immediately  to  depart 
on  his  promise  of  sending  me  information  of  whatever 
passes,  and  of  returning  to  Berlin  within  two  months. 
It  has  seemed  to  me  that  this  will  conciliate  his  interest 
and  ours, —  the  latter  because  we  shall  be  perfectly  in- 
formed of  whatever  we  wish  to  know  concerning  Cour- 
land, of  which  many  things  are  to  be  learned,  and  by 
which  step,  at  all  events,  we  shall  make  a  party  in  the 
country,  where  the  simple  title  of  consul,  or  the  permis- 
sion only  of  wearing  our  uniform,  with  a  small  pension, 
will  secure  to  us  a  man  of  merit,  should  he  determine  to 
accept  the  offers  of  the  regency;  first,  because  Baron 
Nolde"  will  inform  himself,  by  this  journey,  what  is  the 
degree  of  stability  and  profit  of  the  place  they  propose 
for  him,  and  because,  if  he  be  not  satisfied  with  this,  he 
may  again  return  to  the  service  of  France,  with  the  rec- 


254  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

ommendation  of  additional  labors  and  strong  zeal  in  her 
behalf;  and,  should  he  be  satisfied  with  the  offers  of 
Courland,  he  may  accept  them,  while  we  may  better  his 
situation  and  augment  his  respect  and  safety,  by  suffer- 
ing him  to  wear  our  uniform,  etc.,  etc. 

Summarily,  this  young  gentleman,  who  has  served  at 
the  sieges  of  Port-Mahon  and  Gibraltar;  who  is  esteemed 
and  beloved  by  his  commanders ;  who  for  six  months  has 
labored,  under  my  direction,  with  uncommon  zeal,  and 
assiduity  not  less  uncommon;  1  repeat,  this  gentleman 
would  certainly  merit  such  a  mark  of  favor,  though  it 
had  been  on  his  own  business  solely  that  he  had  made 
a  journey  into  Courland.  But  the  truth  is  I  send  him 
thither  because  I  am  strongly  invited  by  circumstances, 
and  am  convinced  of  two  things.  First,  that  were  it 
only  perfectly  to  understand  this  part  of  the  politics  of 
Russia,  it  is  of  importance  to  us  at  once  to  know  at 
what  to  estimate  the  worth  and  destiny,  as  well  as  the 
changes  of  which  this  country  is  susceptible;  which,  in- 
dependent of  all  interior  circumstances,  stands  by  situa- 
tion the  sentinel  of  Poland  and  of  the  Baltic,  now  that 
Sweden,  our  arm  of  the  north,  is  so  seriously  menaced. 
My  second  conviction  is  that  Baron  Nold£  is  the  most  proper 
of  men  faithfully  to  send  us  this  information.  Where- 
fore not  afford  him  aid  ?  Wherefore  not  preserve  such 
persons  ? 

You  must  have  seen,  but  perhaps  you  have  not  re- 
marked, in  the  thirty-second  abstract  from  the  gazettes, 
that  Springporten,  formerly  a  colonel  in  the  service  of 
Sweden,  has  lately  entered  into  the  service  of  Russia, 
with  the  rank  of  major  general;  that  he  is  the  man  who 
best  knows  Finland;  that  the  Empress  has  granted  him 
three  thousand  roubles  for  his  equipment,  an  estate  of 
six  hundred  peasants,  in  White  Russia,  and  the  key  of 
chamberlain;  that  he  is  incessantly  to  make  a  journey 
into  the  Crimea,  etc.,  etc.  Though  by  acquiring  such 
men,  with  the  knowledge  and  connections  which  they 
bring  with  them,  preparations  are  made  for  the  execution 
of  the  greatest  projects,  still,  by  the  same  methods,  such 
projects  are  rendered  abortive. 

There  was  not    time,    last  post,  to  write  the  postscript 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  255 

in  cipher,  which  contains  a  curious  fact,  of  which 
Panchand  will  probably  make  use  and  application.* 

I  informed  you  in  No.  VI.  that  "they  have  lately 
interdicted  discounting  bills  of  exchange  at  the  bank, 
etc.®  This  fact  has  not  been  verified.  The  merchants 
indeed  required  it  might  be  done,  but  their  request  has 
not  been  granted,  and  it  was  opposed  by  Struensee.  But 
to  the  news  of  the  day. 

There  are  two  versions  concerning  Mademoiselle  Voss. 
Both  are  derived  from  excellent  sources,  and  probably 
the  real  one  will  be  that  which  may  be  composed  from 
the  two. 

1.  There  will  be  no  marriage.  Mademoiselle  will  depart 
in   a  month,  for  I  know  not  where;  and    afterward   will 
return  to  Potsdam.     *  I  know, B  said  she,    "that  I  dishonor 
myself.     All   the   compensation    I   ask  is  not  to  see  any 
person;    leave  me  in    profound    solitude;  I    neither  wish 
for  riches    nor  splendor.*     It  is  certain   that,  if    she  can 
keep  him  thus,  she  will  lead  him  much  the  farther. 

2.  Wednesday,    the  2  ad  of    last  month,    was    the   re- 
markable  day  on  which  Mademoiselle  Voss  accepted  the 
King's  hand,    and  promised   him  her   own.     It  was    de- 
termined the  Queen  should  be  brought   to   approve    the 
plan  of  the  left-handed  marriage  as  a  thing  of  necessity, 
should  she  obstinately  display  too  much  repugnance.     It 
is    singular    that,    for    the    consummation    of   this    rare 
business,    the   arrival  of   the  Duke  of    Saxe- Weimar  was 
waited  for,  who  is  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Queen.     The 
King  thus  will  be  father  to  four  sorts  of  children,  f    The 
priests,  who    have    been    consulted    on    the    manner    of 
reconciling   the    claims  of    heaven  with   the   pleasures  of 
earth,  have  decided  that  it  will   be  better  to  concentrate 
his  enjoyments    by  an    extraordinary  marriage     than  in- 
cessantly to  wander   from  error   to   error.     Nothing  has 

*The  last  letter  has  no  postscript.  The  author  probably  means 
the  fact  contained  in  the  paragraphs  to  be  found  a  few  pages  forward, 
which  begin  with  the  words —  POSTSCRIPT  MENTIONED  IN  THE  BODY  OF 

THE   LETTER. 

•j-  Those  of  his  first  Queen,  Elizabeth,  from  whom  he  was  divorced, 
as  before  mentioned ;  those  of  his  present  Queen ;  his  natural  children, 
by  Madame  Rietz ;  and  his  half -bastard,  half -legitimate,  by  Mademoiselle 
Voss,  had  this  marriage  taken  place. 


256  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

transpired  concerning  the  manner  in  which  this  arrange- 
ment is  to  be  made  known  to  the  uncles ;  of  the  name  the 
new  Princess  is  to  bear;  or  of  her  future  establishment,  etc., 
etc.  In  all  probability  she  soon  will  interfere  in  public 
affairs ;  and,  should  she  do  so,  the  credit  of  Bishopswerder 
will  diminish.  She  loves  neither  him  nor  his  daughters. 
Her  party  is,  besides,  very  opposite  t9  that  of  the 
mystics,  which  gains  ground  in  a  very  fearful  manner. 
I  am  going  to  relate  a  recent  anecdote  on  that  subject 
which  happened  in  the  last  months  of  Frederick  II.,  and 
which  it  is  infinitely  important,  at  least  for  my  security 
while  I  remain  here,  to  keep  secret;  of  the  irrevocable 
authenticity  of  which  you  yourself  will  judge ;  and  which 
will  show  you  whither  tends  this  imaginary  theory  of 
the  mystics  connected  with  the  Rosicrucian- Freemasons, 
whom  among  us  some  look  upon  with  pity,  and  others 
treat  as  objects  of  amusement. 

There  is  a  rumor  whispered  about  which  terrifies 
worthy  people,  and  which,  true  or  false,  is  a  faithful  in- 
dication of  the  public  opinion.  It  is  affirmed  that  Prince 
Henry,  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  and  General  Moellen- 
dorf,  mean  to  quit  the  army.  The  two  first  probably  do 
not  yet  think  of  such  a  step ;  but  the  latter  is  indubitably 
the  most  discontented  of  the  three.  Rich,  loyal,  simple, 
firm,  he  possesses  virtues  which  would  do  honor  to  a  soil 
on  which  virtue  is  more  fruitful.  He  certainly  has  not 
been  treated  either  as  he  himself  expected,  or  as  good 
citizens  have  wished.  They  were  desirous,  indeed,  to  cre- 
ate him  a  count;  but  among  so  many  counts,  what  need 
had  he  of  such  a  title?  For  which  reason  this  respect- 
able man  replied,  <(  WHAT  HAVE  i  DONE?  *  This  artless, 
noble  question  was  too  severe  —  on  the  herd  of  nobles 
and  the  multitude  of  titles  that  have  sprung  up,  warmed 
by  the  breath  of  royal  munificence  —  to  be  agreeable. 
His  modest  and  antique  manners  are  become  reproachful 
to  the  Court;  yet  is  the  only  reform  truly  beneficial  and 
universally  approved,  under  the  new  reign,  the  work  of 
this  general.  I  mean  the  abolition  of  that  iniquitous 
contribution  called  GRASS  FORAGE,  which  subjected  the  open 
country  to  pillage,  during  three  months  of  the  year, 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  257 

under  the  pretense  of  accustoming  the  cavalry  to  forage. 
He  has  not  since  been  consulted  on  any  subject,  or  he 
has  had  no  influence.  I  should  not  be  surprised  should 
he  retire  to  his  country  seat ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  ex- 
aggerate the  unamiable  light  in  which  such  a  tacit  pro- 
fession of  faith  would  place  the  King  and  his  Government. 

Three  months  more  of  similar  proceedings,  and  he  will 
have  no  respect  to  lose, — at  least,  in  his  own  country. 
Every  corrupt  symptom  is  manifest.  Rietz,  a  rascal, 
avaricious,  chief  pimp,  and  an  avowed  Giton,  insomuch 
that  ipse  confitetur,  sibi  cum  Rege,  dum  princeps  Borussia 
esset,  apud  eius  amicam  stupri  commercium  futsse.  In  a 
word,  Rietz,  the  vilest  and  the  most  debased  of  men, 
manages  the  royal  household,  and  enjoys  a  great  part  of 
the  Court  favor.  Here  it  ought  to  be  noted  that  he  is 
very  susceptible  of  being  bought ;  but  he  must  be  dearly 
bribed,  for  he  is  covetous  and  prodigal,  and  his  fortune 
is  to  make,  should  ever  France  have  occasion  to  direct 
the  Cabinet  of  Berlin.  So  long  as  the  King  shall  have 
any  power,  Rietz  and  Prince  Frederick  of  Brunswick  are 
the  two  men  most  liable  to  temptation. 

The  following  is  an  anecdote  of  a  very  low  species, 
but  very  characteristic  for  those  who  know  the  country. 
The  Italian  and  French  dancers  have  received  orders  to 
dance  twice  a  week,  at  the  German  theater.  The  pur- 
port of  such  a  capricious  injunction  was  to  give  disgust 
to  this  species  of  people,  who  are  expensive  enough,  and 
to  find  a  pretense  for  dismissing  them.  They  have  been 
well  advised,  and  will  dance;  but  such  is  the  low  spirit 
of  cunning  which  presides  over  the  administration.  Poli- 
tics are  treated  as  wisely  as  theatrical  matters. 

I  this  moment  learned  that  Heinitz,  one  of  the  Minis- 
ters of  State,  a  man  of  mediocrity,  but  laborious,  has 
written  a  letter  to  the  King,  of  which  the  following  is 
nearly  the  sense :  <(  Being  a  foreigner,  not  possessed  of 
any  lands  in  your  States,  my  zeal  cannot  be  suspected 
by  your  Majesty.  It  is  consequently  my  duty  to  inform 
you  that  the  projected  capitation  tax  will  alienate  the 
hearts  of  Your  Majesty's  subjects;  and  proves  that  the 
new  regulators  of  the  finances  are,  at  present,  little  versed 
in  public  business.  }>  The  King  said  to  him  two  days 
17 


258  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

after,  <(  I  thank  you,  w  and  made  no  further  inquiries. 
Irresolution  does  not  exclude  obstinacy,  although  obsti- 
nacy is  far  from  being  resolution.  I  should  not  be  aston- 
ished were  the  tobacco  and  snuff  company  to  remain  on 
its  former  footing.  As  for  the  respect  which  govern- 
ment should  preserve,  that  must  take  care  of  itself. 

It  was  an  attempt  similar  to  that  of  Heinitz  which 
produced  the  last  military  promotion,  to  the  disadvantage 
of  General  Moellendorf.  The  General  wrote,  with  re- 
spectful but  firm  dignity,  against  the  nomination  of 
Count  Briihl,  and  entreated  the  King  would  show  less 
indifference  for  the  army.  Thanks  were  returned, 
accompanied  with  these  words:  "The  place  has  been 
promised  a  year  and  a  half*;  and  two  days  after  seven- 
teen majors  were  created.  Since  this  time,  coldness 
toward  the  General  has  increased,  and  civility  has  been 
substituted  for  confidence.  The  letter  is  not  thought 
well  of.  It  is  said  that  he  ought  to  have  reserved  this 
vigorous  blow  for  some  occasion  on  which  he  should 
not  appear  to  be  personally  interested ;  and  it  is  he  him- 
self who  seemed  most  proper  to  fill  the  place  of  gov- 
ernor. 

The  Duke  of  Weimar  is  preparing  to  make  a  very 
pompous  wolf  hunt,  on  the  frontiers  of  Poland.  The 
orders  and  adjustments  for  this  party  of  pleasure  do  not 
very  well  agree  with  the  projects  and  ceremonials  of 
economy.  Twelve  hundred  peasants  are  commanded  to 
be  in  readiness;  sixty  horses  have  been  sent,  and  eight 
baggage  wagons,  with  the  masters  of  the  forests,  gentle- 
men, huntsmen,  and  cooks  for  this  hunt,  which  is  to 
continue  six  days. 

At  present,  I  am  nearly  certain  that  my  second  ver- 
sion, relative  to  Mademoiselle  Voss,  is  the  true  one ;  and 
that  the  Queen  is  coaxed  into  the  measure.  The  King 
never  lived  on  better  terms  with  her.  He  has  often 
visited  her  within  this  week,  pays  her  debts,  and  has 
given  her  a  concert.  Probably  she  has  made  a  virtue  of 
necessity.  It  appears  evident  that  this  connection  of  the 
King  highly  deranges  the  plan  of  the  mystic  administra- 
tors. The  family  of  Mademoiselle  Voss  wishes  to  profit 
by  her  elevation;  and  their  advice  no  way  agrees  with 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  259 

that  of  the  present  favorites.  Bishopswerder,  far 
from  gaining  upon  the  King,  declines  in  his  esteem.  In 
a  word,  revolution  may  come  from  that  side.  Will  pub- 
lic affairs  be  the  gainer  ?  This  question  it  is  impossible 
to  answer.  We  can  only  turn  the  telescope  toward  the 
spot;  or  rather  the  microscope;  for,  in  truth,  we  are  in 
the  reign  and  the  country  of  the  infinitely  minute. 

[Postscript ',  mentioned  in  the  body  of  the  letter. ~\ 

The  current  coins  in  Poland  were  formerly  as  follows: 
The  mark  of  fine  silver  of  the  Cologne  weight  was 
coined  at  13-3  r.  or  80  fl.  of  Poland. 

As  to  gold  coins,  there  were  none  but  Dutch  ducats 
that  had  any  nominal  value;  that  is  to  say  — 

At  the  royal  treasuries,  they  were  taken  for  16^  k. 

By  the  public,  for  18  k. ;  both  of  which  rates  were 
fixed  by  decrees  of  the  Diet. 

In  the  Diet  of  1786,  the  ducats  were  universally  raised 
to  1 8  k.  each. 

The  assay  of  the  silver  consequently  cannot  any  longer 
be  maintained;  and  it  is  affirmed  there  is  a  determina- 
tion, hereafter,  to  coin  the  fine  mark  at  14  r.  or  84  fl. 

But  neither  can  this  coinage  support  itself;  for,  should 
Berlin  coin  at  14  r.,  Poland  will  be  obliged  to  keep  up 
an  equal  value  at  a  greater  expense,  because  of  carriage. 

Under  the  present  circumstances,  it  might  be  advan- 
tageous to  draw  on  Poland  for  ducats  at  3  r.  if  the  assay 
of  silver  is  at  14  r. 

But,  if  the  relative  value  of  gold  should  fall,  compara- 
tively to  that  of  silver,  silver  may  be  there  bought  with 
profit. 

Generally  speaking,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  recent 
operations  on  gold  should  lead  us  to  reflect  on  the  state 
of  the  silver,  especially  in  Spain,  should  that  power  per- 
sist in  the  folly  which,  with  the  greatest  part  of  Europe, 
it  has  given  into,  of  keeping  two  species  of  coin,  and 
hoarding  the  gold. 

SECOND  POSTSCRIPT. —  The  King,  attended  by  a  single 
lackey  and  much  disguised,  has  been  to  the  corn  and 


260  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

straw  warehouses,  where  he  inquired  of  the  soldiers  who 
worked  there  what  their  wages  were.  (<  Five  groschen. " 
A  moment  after  he  put  the  same  question  to  the  super- 
intendents. (<  Six  groschen. w  Three  soldiers  being  called 
to  confront  the  superintendents,  and  the  fraud  being 
proved,  a  subaltern  and  three  soldiers  were  ordered  to 
conduct  the  two  superintendents  to  Spandau,  a  civil 
prison ;  and  there  they  are  to  be  tried.  The  fact  is  very 
praiseworthy.  He  makes  evening  peregrinations  almost 
unattended,  and  addicts  himself  to  the  minute  inquiries 
of  a  justice  of  the  peace.  At  least  this  is  the  third  time 
he  has  acted  thus.  Some  of  his  attendants  imagine 
he  means  to  imitate  the  Emperor.  After  what  has  passed 
between  them,  this  perhaps  would  be  the  most  severe 
symptom  of  absolute  incapacity. 


LETTER   LIII. 

December  5th,  1786. 

THE  news  of  the  cabals,  which  the  Emperor  again 
wishes  to  excite  at  Deux- Fonts,  and  which  our 
Cabinet  has  published  here,  seem  to  have  produced 
a  very  good  effect  upon  the  King,  in  despite  of  those  who 
exclaim,  Ne  crede  Teucris — an  adage  which  is  become  the 
signal  of  rallying  among  the  English,  Dutch,  anti-French, 
etc.,  etc.  May  we  conduct  ourselves  so  as  never  to 
admit  of  any  other  reproach.  This  discovery  will  prob- 
ably, both  at  Berlin  and  Deux-Ponts,  counteract  the 
Emperor.  It  was  very  ill-judged  of  him  not  to  suffer 
that  torpor  to  increase,  which  is  the  infallible  conse- 
quence of  the  langour  of  labor,  or  of  the  confusion  which 
doing  nothing  produces. 

But  I  resign  these  foreign  politics  to  your  ambassadors, 
to  whom  they  are  known,  because  I  gained  this  intelli- 
gence by  that  means  only  by  which  I  gain  all  other; 
because  Comte  d'Esterno  did  not  say  a  word  on  the  sub- 
ject to  me;  because  it  would  have  been  weak  and  little 
decent  to  have  put  many  questions  on  a  matter  which  I 
ought  to  have  known;  and  because  I,  therefore,  satisfied 
myself  with  vague  annotations  on  our  fidelity.  I  am  not, 
and  probably  shall  not  be,  circumstantially  informed  of 
the  affair.  You,  perhaps,  may  feel  on  this  occasion  how 
important  it  is  that  better  intelligence  should  be  sent 
me  from  Versailles;  but  you  will  doubtless  acknowledge 
I  perform  all  I  can,  all  I  ought,  when  I  trace  the  out- 
lines of  internal  —  since  I  have  not  the  key  to  external 
—  politics ;  though  assuredly  I  shall  not  neglect  the  latter 
whenever  lucky  chance  shall  afford  opportunities. 

The  libelist  Crantz,  who  was  expelled  the  country  by 
Frederick  II.  for  theft,  and  for  having  sold  the  same 
horse  three  times,  is  recalled,  with  a  pension  of  eight 
hundred  crowns.  The  King  wrote  to  Count  Hertzberg  to 

(261) 


262  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

give  him  some  post.  The  Minister  replied  that  the  abilities 
of  the  gentleman  were  great,  and  that  he  was  very 
estimable,  but  that  he  had  too  little  discretion  to  be  em- 
ployed in  foreign  affairs.  The  King  proposed  him  to  the 
Minister  Werder,  who  answered,  the  gentleman  was  ex- 
ceedingly intelligent,  exceedingly  capable,  but  that  there 
was  money  in  his  office,  which,  therefore,  M.  Crantz  must 
not  be  suffered  to  enter.  At  last,  the  King  has  thrown 
the  illustrious  Crantz,  praised  by  all  and  by  all  rejected, 
upon  the  States;  and  he  receives  a  pension  of  eight 
hundred  crowns  for  doing  nothing. 

The  Minister  Schulemburg,  after  having  twice  demanded 
his  dismissal,  has  finally  obtained  it,  without  a  pension. 
This  is  severe;  but  the  ex-Minister  is  adroit.  He  has 
cast  all  the  burden  upon  the  first  branch  of  his  depart- 
ment, which  has  been  retrenched.  If  there  are  any 
means  of  being  restored,  this  was  well  done.  You  are 
acquainted  with  the  qualities  of  this  man.  He  had 
understanding,  facility,  and  sagacity  in  the  choice  of  his 
coadjutors;  was  indifferent  concerning  the  means  he  em- 
ployed; vain  in  prosperity;  despairing  in  misfortune,  of 
which  his  feelings  are  the  sport;  ready  to  serve  others; 
susceptible  of  affection,  and  believing  in  friendship  after 
having  been  fifteen  years  Minister  of  Frederick  II.  He 
thought  himself  immovable  because  he  was  necessary,  and 
hopes  that  this  necessity  will  surmount  the  cabals  by 
which  he  has  been  driven  from  his  post.  Perhaps  he 
deceives  himself;  for,  while  we  are  not  difficult  in  our 
choice,  and  when  the  business  is  not  of  itself  beyond 
vulgar  capacities,  agents  may  at  any  time  be  found.  If 
monarchs  wish  for  a  Newton,  they  certainly  must  employ 
a  Newton,  or  the  place  must  remain  vacant.  But  who  is 
there  who  does  not  think  himself  capable  of  being  a 
minister,  and  of  whom  may  it  be  demonstrated  he  is  not 
capable  ? 

I  am  assured,  from  a  good  quarter,  that  Count  Hertz- 
berg  regains  confidence.  He  has  bowed  to  the  new 
agents,  who  have  had  the  weakness  to  bring  him  again 
into  favor  because  Mademoiselle  Voss  is  the  niece  of 
Count  Finckenstein,  and  because,  her  family  being  unable 
to  obtain  any  advantage  by  her  promotion  except  by  the 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  263 

overthrow  of  those  who  surround  the  King,  who  are  not 
ignorant  that  the  lady  detests  them,  it  is  requisite  some 
one  should  be  opposed  to  her.  But,  if  she  be  a  dame  of 
mettle,  change  must  be  looked  for  on  that  side,  which 
more  or  less  address  will  hasten  or  retard.  Whether  or 
no,  Hertzberg  has  advised  Count  Goertz  to  take  part 
with  Renneval,  of  whose  prudence  he  has  spoken  in  the 
highest  terms  to  the  King. 

A  new  blunder  has  been  committed  in  the  military. 
All  the  first  lieutenants  have  been  made  captains;  and 
the  captains,  whether  on  whole  or  half  pay,  of  the  regi- 
ment of  guards,  are  advanced  to  the  rank  of  major. 
Except  the  war  chancery,  I  do  not  see  who  will  be  the 
gainer  by  this  arrangement.  It  is  said  the  King  intends 
to  pay  his  personal  debts,  the  payment  of  which,  by  the 
way  of  parenthesis,  is  more  than  ever  eluded,  with  the 
produce  of  the  commissions  of  officers,  and  the  diplomas 
of  counts,  barons,  chamberlains,  etc. 

The  plan  for  the  capitation  tax  was  represented  to  the 
King  as  a  kind  of  voluntary  act,  and  which  the  people 
themselves  would  meet  half  way;  but  informed  of  the 
public  disgust  this  project  had  occasioned,  alarmed  by  the 
rumor,  and  heated  by  the  letter  of  Heinitz,  he  told 
Werder,  "  People  ought  not  to  meddle  with  matters  they 
do  not  understand.*  (Take  good  note  that  this  be  said 
to  his  Minister  of  Finance.)  "Launay  should  have  been 
consulted*  (now  under  the  fetters  of  the  commission  of 
inquiry).  Werder  excused  himself  in  the  best  manner 
he  could,  by  saying  the  plan  did  not  originate  with  him 
(in  fact,  the  project  was  Beyer's),  as  if  he  had  not  appro- 
priated by  approving  it. 

The  general  directory,  that  species  of  Council  of  State 
at  which  the  King  is  never  present,  has  projected  re- 
monstrances concerning  the  humiliating  inactivity  in 
which  it  is  held;  but  Welner  opposed  them,  giving  the 
invincible  repugnance  of  his  Majesty  for  every  species  of 
advice  to  be  understood.  This  arises  from  the  strange 
supposition  that  those  who  give  him  advice  have  adopted 
the  sentiments  of  his  uncle,  relative  to  his  capacity.  He 
is  yet  to  learn  that  no  one  ventures  to  advise  among  the 
great,  except  such  persons  as  they  esteem. 


264  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

In  the  meantime  the  mystics  continue  in  the  same  de- 
gree of  favor.  Their  conspiracy  was  denounced  by  the 
great  person  whom  I  spoke  of  to  you  in  my  last,  to  Gen- 
eral Moellendorf,  the  intimate  friend  of  the  brother  of 
Mademoiselle  Voss  (a  man  esteemed  for  his  moral  char- 
acter; in  other  respects  obscure,  at  least  hitherto,  yet 
who  probably  will  soon  appear  upon  the  stage),  in  order 
that  he  might  terrify  his  sister,  and  by  her  intervention 
the  Sovereign,  concerning  the  crimes  of  a  sect  who 
would  sacrifice  all  whom  they  cannot  rule.  Biester  —  the 
same,  to  say  the  least,  to  whom  it  has  been  insinuated 
that  he  should  spare  the  mystics — has  a  lawsuit  in  which 
they  are  interested,  which  it  is  said  he  will  lose.  He 
has  accused  M.  Starck  of  being  a  Catholic.  Starck  is  a 
Professor  of  Jena,  a  man  celebrated  for  the  gift  of  per- 
suasion, as  well  as  for  his  understanding  and  knowledge, 
a  Lutheran  born,  and  a  Lutheran  minister,  but  a  known 
professor  of  the  Catholic  religion.  He  has,  notwithstand- 
ing, instituted  a  criminal  action  against  Biester,  for 
having  said  this,  and  has  summoned  him  to  prove  his 
calumnious  assertion.  Never  would  such  a  suit  have 
been  heard  of  under  Frederick  II.  Starck  has  recently 
published  a  book  entitled  <(  Nicaise,"  in  which  he  attacks 
Freemasonry.  The  Freemasons  have  replied  by  another, 
entitled  (<  Anti-Nicaise,  *  in  which  are  inserted  authentic 
letters  from  several  princes,  and,  among  others,  from 
Prince  Charles  of  Hesse  Cassel,  and  Prince  Ferdinand  of 
Brunswick;  which  well  prove,  what  all  know  who  have 
conversed  with  him,  should  they  not  likewise  know  his 
creatures,  Bauer  and  Wetsall,  that  a  great  general,  or 
rather  a  FAMOUS  general,  may  be  a  very  little  man. 

The  statement  of  the  expense  is  at  length  made  out, 
and  the  result  is  that  the  King  may  increase  his  treas- 
ury by  two  millions  of  crowns,  and  still  reserve  a  con- 
siderable sum  for  his  pleasures  or  his  affections.  But, 
in  this  calculation,  it  is  supposed  that  following  receipts 
will  equal  the  preceding,  which  certainly  is  doubtful. 
One  paternal  act  has  been  performed;  the  country  peo- 
ple have  been  freed  from  the  obligation  of  lodging  the 
cavalry  gratis,  and  supplying  forage  at  a  very  low  price. 
This  reform  will  cost  the  King  two  hundred  and  seventy 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  265 

thousand  crowns  per  annum.  But  it  was  extremely  nec- 
essary. It  is  the  result  of  the  plan  of  Moellendorf  for 
the  abolition  of  the  GREEN  FORAGE. 

One  M.  Moulines  is  the  editor  of  the  manuscripts  of  the 
late  King.  I  have  before  given  you  his  political  character ; 
and,  as  a  literary  man,  he  is  destitute  of  taste  and  dis- 
cernment, and  without  any  profound  knowledge  of  the 
language.  But  he  is  the  friend  of  Welner;  of  that  Wel- 
ner  to  whom  the  King,  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
sends  the  letters  and  requests  of  the  day  before,  and 
who  at  four  o'clock  goes  to  give  in  his  account,  or  rather 
to  instruct  the  King.  As  for  the  Ministers,  they  receive 
orders,  and  do  not  give  advice.  Welner  has  had  the  wit 
to  refuse  the  title  of  Minister,  and  to  satisfy  himself  with 
that  of  superintendent  of  the  buildings ;  but  he  is  already 
fawned  upon  by  the  whole  Court.  These  manuscripts 
are  to  be  printed  in  eighteen  volumes  octavo.  The  two 
parts  most  curious  are  the  «  History  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War, "  and  the  *  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Times. w*  In  the 
former,  Frederick  has  rather  recounted  what  he  ought  to 
have  done  than  what  he  did;  and  this  is  itself  a  trait  of 
genius.  He  praises  or  excuses  almost  everybody;  and 
blames  only  himself,  f 

The  Marquis  of  Lucchesini,  who  had  been,  not  the 
friend,  not  the  favorite  of  Frederick,  but  his  LISTENER, 
is,  though  he  does  not  own  it,  highly  piqued  at  the 
choice  made  of  Moulines.  He  has  demanded  leave  of 
absence  for  six  months,  to  make  a  journey  into  his  own 
country,  from  which,  no  doubt,  he  will  no  more  return. 
How  did  it  happen  that  he  did  not  feel  that  the  personal 
respect  in  which  he  would  have  been  held  would  have 
been  immense  had  he  quitted  Prussia  a  week  after  the 
death  of  the  King,  with  this  only  reply  to  all  the  offers 
which  would  have  been  made  him  ?  —  tf  I  was  ambitious 

*  The  publication  has  proved  the  author  was  mistaken.  The  letters 
are  the  most  curious  part  of  the  work.  There  are  few  things  in  the  his- 
tory that  were  not  known  before,  except  that  it  exhibits  the  character 
of  this  extraordinary  man,  as  drawn  by  himself,  to  those  who  are  capa- 
ble of  discovering  that  character ;  and  in  this  particular  the  letters  are 
perhaps  still  superior. 

f  It  is  plain  the  author  had  never  read  the  work,  which  was  not  then 
published. 


266  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

only  of  a  place  which  all  the  Kings  on  earth  could  not 
take  from  me,  cannot  restore;  that  of  being  the  friend 
of  Frederick  II.» 

Two  successors  have  been  appointed  to  Count  Schu- 
lemburg;  for,  as  the  King  of  France  has  four  Ministers, 
twenty  are  necessary  to  the  King  of  Prussia.  One  of 
these  successors  is  M.  Moschwitz,  a  magistrate ;  of  whom 
neither  good  nor  harm  is  spoken.  The  other  is  a  Count 
Schulemburg  von  Blumbert,  the  son-in-law  of  Count 
Finckenstein.  The  latter  possesses  knowledge,  an  ardent 
and  gloomy  ambition,  and  a  moral  character  that  is  sus- 
pected. He  is  studious,  intelligent,  assiduous,  and  is 
certainly  a  capable  man.  But  he  is  supposed  to  want 
order;  to  possess  rather  a  heated  brain  than  an  active 
mind;  and  to  have  more  opinions  of  his  own  than  dex- 
terity to  blend  them  with  the  opinions  of  others  and 
render  them  successful.  Neither  is  he  at  all  accustomed 
to  business;  and  is  an  absolute  stranger  to  banking  and 
commercial  speculations,  that  is  to  say,  to  the  principal 
branches  of  his  department. 

FIRST  POSTSCRIPT. —  The  King,  who  is  paying  off  the 
debts  of  his  father,  has  granted  twenty  thousand  crowns 
for  the  maintenance  and  privy  purse  of  his  two  eldest 
sons.  Their  household  is  a  separate  expense. 

SECOND  POSTSCRIPT. —  I  did  not  believe  I  was  so  good 
a  prophet.  The  brother  of  Mademoiselle  Voss  has  the 
place  of  the  President  Moschwitz.  This  is  the  foot  in 
the  stirrup. 

The  course  of  exchange  on  Amsterdam  is  so  exceed- 
ingly high  that,  there  being  no  operation  of  finance  or 
of  commerce  by  which  it  may  be  accounted  for,  I  have 
no  doubt  but  remittances  are  made  there  to  pay  off  the 
personal  debts  of  the  King.  Struensee  is  of  the  same 
opinion;  but  he  has  no  positive  intelligence  on  the 
subject. 


LETTER  LIV. 

December  8th,  1786. 

You  may  take  it  for  granted  that  there  are  three  prin- 
cipal shades  in  the  character  of  the  King  —  deceit, 
which  he  believes  to  be  art;  irascible  vanity,  when- 
ever the  least  remonstrance  is  made  to  him;  and  the 
accumulation  of  money,  which  is  not  so  much  avarice  in 
him  as  the  passion  of  possessing.  The  first  of  these 
vices  has  rendered  him  suspicious;  for  he  who  deceives 
by  system  continually  imagines  he  is  deceived.  The 
second  induces  him  to  prefer  people  of  middling,  or  in- 
ferior abilities;  and  the  latter  contributes  to  make  him 
lead  an  obscure  and  solitary  life,  by  which  the  two 
former  are  strengthened.  Violent  in  private,  impenetra- 
ble in  public,  little  animated  by  the  love  of  fame  in 
reality,  and  making  this  love  to  consist  chiefly  in  lead- 
ing the  world  to  suppose  he  is  not  governed;  rarely 
troubling  himself  with  foreign  politics;  a  soldier  from 
necessity,  and  not  from  inclination;  disposed  to  favor 
the  mystics,  not  from  conviction,  but  because  he  believes 
he  shall,  by  their  aid,  examine  the  consciences  and 
penetrate  the  hearts  of  men — such  is  the  outline  of  the 
man. 

His  debts  will  be  paid  by  the  surplus  money.  Under 
the  late  King  there  was  annually  a  considerable  sum 
which  was  not  brought  to  the  Treasury,  but  was  kept 
apart  to  raise  new  regiments,  to  increase  the  artillery,  or 
to  repair  the  fortresses.  Now,  as  the  artillery  was  not 
increased,  as  new  regiments  were  not  raised,  and  as  the 
fortresses  were  not  repaired,  the  money  consequently  ac- 
cumulated. It  is  now  employed  in  liquidation. 

The  revenues  are  upward  of  twenty-seven  millions  of 
crowns,  including  the  customs;  or  about  a  hundred  and 
eight  millions  of  French  livres.  The  expense  of  the 
army  is  twelve  millions  and  a  half  of  crowns ;  of  the  civil 

(267) 


268  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

administration,  two  millions  three  hundred  thousand 
crowns;  of  the  King's,  the  Queen's,  and  the  Princes' 
household,  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  crowns; 
and  a  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  for  the  payment  of 
pensions.  I  am  not  acquainted  with  all  the  inferior 
expenses ;  but  when,  for  example,  we  know  that  the  lega- 
tion chest  does  not  absorb  more  than  seventy-five  thou- 
sand crowns,  and  that  the  supplements  amount  on  an 
average  to  twenty-five  thousand  crowns  (on  which  I  have 
to  remark  that  the  same  object  in  Denmark  costs  three 
millions  of  crowns;  and  in  Russia,  a  country  almost  un- 
known to  the  greatest  part  of  Europe,  three  hundred 
thousand  rubles),  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  the  sum 
total  of  the  annual  surplus,  the  expense  being  deducted 
from  the  receipt,  is  about  three  millions  and  a  half 
of  crowns. 

The  manufacturers  have  presented  a  petition,  in  which 
they  supplicate  to  be  informed  whether  any  alterations 
are  intended  to  be  made  in  the  privileges  granted  them 
by  the  late  King,  or  his  predecessors,  that  they  may  not 
be  exposed  to  the  buying  of  materials,  or  contracting 
agreements  which  they  shall  be  unable  to  fulfill.  Fred- 
erick William  has  given  his  word  of  honor  not  to  make 
any  change,  at  present,  of  this  kind. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  King  intended  to  have 
made  Welner  a  Minister,  which  dignity  it  is  affirmed  he 
refused.  This  for  many  reasons  was  a  master  stroke,  by 
which  he  will  be  no  loser;  for  he  has  lately  been  granted 
an  augmentation  of  three  thousand  crowns,  that  he  may 
enjoy  the  same  pension  as  the  Ministers  of  State.  The 
King  not  only  places  no  confidence  in  the  latter,  but  he 
affects  never  to  mention  them,  unless  it  be  to  Count 
Finckenstein,  the  uncle  of  the  well-beloved;  or  to  Count 
Arnim,  who  interferes  in  the  negotiations  of  the  so  much 
desired  marriage,  and  who  is  at  present  too  much  a 
stranger  to  business  to  be  suspected  of  any  system.  The 
supposition  that  he  has  one  will,  at  least  for  some  time, 
be  the  rock  on  which  the  new  Schulemburg  is  liable  to 
be  wrecked.  He  is  supported  by  strength  of  character 
and  ardor  of  ambition.  As  to  the  new  President,  to  whom 
already  is  attributed  a  depth  of  design  which  probably 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  269 

he  never  possessed,  I  believe  him  little  capable  of  enact- 
ing any  great  part. 

The  Sieur  du  Bosc,  who  is  become  a  counselor  of 
finance  and  of  commerce,  is  also  desirous  of  making  his 
entrance.  He  has  petitioned  to  be  employed  in  the  cus- 
toms, and  his  request  has  been  granted,  but  without  an 
increase  of  respect.  Speculators,  joining  this  symptom 
to  some  others,  have  drawn  a  conclusion  that  this  is 
some  diminution  in  the  credit  of  Bishopswerder,  his  pro- 
tector. The  party  of  the  mystics,  however,  does  but 
augment  and  flourish.  To  own  the  truth,  the  crowd  of 
candidates  may  injure  individuals.  One  of  the  most  zeal- 
ous members,  Drenthal,  is  lately  arrived.  No  office  was 
found  for  him  under  the  King ;  but  he  has  in  the  interim 
been  placed  with  the  Princess  Amelia,  in  quality  of  Mar- 
shal of  the  Court,  with  a  promise  of  not  being  forgotten 
at  the  death  of  this  Princess,  whose  end  approaches. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  new  Sovereign  may  be  increased 
by  a  sketch  of  the  most  distinguished  people  at  his 
Court.  Among  these  are  an  old  count  (Lendorf),  gentle 
as  Philinta,  obliging  as  Bonneau,  a  shameless  flatterer, 
an  unfaithful  talebearer,  and,  when  need  is,  a  calumnia- 
tor. A  prince  in  his  pupilage  (Holsteinbeck),  smoking 
his  pipe,  drinking  brandy,  never  knowing  what  he  says, 
ever  talking  on  what  he  does  not  understand,  ready  at 
any  time  to  fly  to  the  parade,  to  hunt,  to  go  to  church, 
to  go  to  brothels,  or  to  go  to  supper  with  a  lieutenant, 
a  lackey,  or  Madame  Rietz.  Another  prince  (Frederick 
of  Brunswick),  famous  for  the  pains  he  took  to  dishonor 
his  sister,  and  particularly  his  brother-in-law,  the  present 
King;  a  libertine  under  the  Monarch  who  was  called  an 
atheist;  at  present  a  mystic,  when  the  Monarch  is  sup- 
posed a  devotee;  a  pensioner  of  the  Freemason  lodges, 
from  which  he  annually  receives  six  thousand  crowns; 
talking  nonsense  from  system ;  and,  for  the  secrets  which 
he  wrests,  returning  a  multitude  of  half  secrets,  which  are 
partly  invented,  and  partly  useless.  A  kind  of  mad 
captain  (Grothaus),  who  has  seen  all,  had  all,  done  all, 
known  all;  the  intimate  friend  of  the  Prince  of  Wales; 
the  favorite  of  the  King  of  England,  invited  by  Congress 
to  be  their  president,  on  condition  of  conquering  Canada; 


270  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

master  at  pleasure  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope;  the  only 
man  capable  of  settling  the  affairs  of  Holland ;  an  author, 
a  dancer,  a  runner,  a  jumper,  a  farmer,  botanist,  physi- 
cian, chemist,  and  lieutenant  colonel  in  the  Prussian 
service,  with  an  income  of  seven  hundred  crowns  per 
annum.  A  minister  (Count  Arnim),  who  dreams  instead 
of  thinking,  smiles  instead  of  replying,  reasons  instead 
of  determining,  regrets  at  night  the  liberty  he  sacrificed 
in  the  morning,  and  wishes  at  once  to  remain  indolent 
on  his  estate,  and  to  acquire  the  reputation  of  a  minis- 
ter. A  reigning  prince  (the  Duke  of  Weimar),  who 
imagines  he  has  wit  because  he  can  interpret  a  rebus;  is 
cunning,  because  he  pretends  to  swallow  his  own  sar- 
casms; a  philosopher,  because  he  has  three  poets  at  his 
Court;  and  a  species  of  hero,  because  he  rides  full  speed 
in  search  of  wolves  and  boars.  Such  being  his  favorites, 
judge  of  the  man. 

Do  you  wish  to  estimate  his  taste  by  his  diversions  ? 
Tuesday  was  the  great  day  on  which  he  went  to  enjoy 
the  pleasures  of  the  imagination  at  the  German  theater. 
Here,  in  grand  pomp,  he  was  accosted  by  a  dramatic 
compliment,  which  concluded  with  these  words :  <(  May 
that  kind  Providence  that  rewards  all,  all  great  and  good 
actions,  bless  and  preserve  our  most  gracious  King,  that 
august  father  of  his  people;  bless  and  preserve  all  the 
royal  house ;  and  bless  and  preserve  us  all !  AMEN  !  * 
The  King  was  so  highly  enchanted  with  this  dramatic 
homily  that  he  has  added  another  thousand  crowns  to 
the  five  thousand  which  he  had  granted  the  manager, 
and  has  made  him  a  present  of  four  chandeliers,  and 
twelve  glasses  to  decorate  the  boxes.  Sarcasms  innumer- 
able, on  the  French  theater,  accompanied  this  act  of 
generosity. 

Would  you  judge  him  by  military  favors  ?  A  pension 
of  three  hundred  crowns  has  been  granted  to  Captain 
Colas,  who  had  been  eight-and-twenty  years  imprisoned 
in  the  citadel  of  Magdeburg;  and  the  rank  of  lieutenant 
general  bestowed  on  Borck,  his  Majesty's  Governor,  who 
is  eighty-two  years  of  age. 

Or  by  his  Court  favors  ?  The  chamberlain's  key  sent 
to  that  extravagant  Baron  Bagge;  who  indeed  presented 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  271 

a  hundred  louis  to  Rietz,  and  forty  to  the  person  who 
brought  him  this  gift  of  royal  munificence. 

It  has  been  insinuated  to  his  Majesty  that  he  had 
displeased  the  citizens,  on  his  return  from  Prussia;  the 
army,  from  the  first  day  of  his  reign;  the  general  direct- 
ory, by  rendering  it  null;  his  family,  by  being  polite 
instead  of  friendly ;  the  priests,  by  his  project  of  a  third 
marriage;  the  pensioners,  by  the  suppression  of  the 
tobacco  monopoly;  the  Court,  by  the  confusion  or  the 
delay  in  the  statement  of  the  accounts;  and  that,  there- 
fore, it  might  perhaps  be  imprudent,  for  the  present,  in 
the  moment  of  effervescence,  to  accept  the  statue  that 
had  been  proposed  by  the  city  of  Konigsberg. 

Are  you  desirous  of  an  index  to  the  respect  in  which 
he  may  be  held  by  foreign  nations  ?  The  Poles  have 
refused  a  passage  to  the  horses,  for  remounting  the  cav- 
alry, coming  from  the  Ukraine.  I  need  not  tell  you 
such  a  refusal  would  never  have  been  made  to  Frederick  II. 

Count  Hertzberg  pretends  he  has  received  letters 
written  against  himself,  to  persons  in  France,  by  Prince 
Henry.  He  showed  them  to  the  King,  who  made  him 
no  reply.  I  scarcely  can  believe  there  is  not  some  fraud 
in  this  affair.  I  know  the  persons  to  whom  the  Prince 
writes  in  France;  and,  treachery  out  of  the  question, 
they  certainly  are  not  interested  in  favor  of  Count  Hertz- 
berg.  But  whether  or  no,  there  are  rumors  that  Hertz- 
berg  and  Blumenthal  are  soon  to  resign;  that  the  latter 
will  be  replaced  by  M.  Voss;  and  the  first,  who  has  im- 
agined himself  too  necessary  to  be  taken  at  his  word, 
"by  a  man  who  will  astonish  the  whole  world.*  (This, 
it  is  affirmed,  is  the  phrase  of  the  King  himself.)  Hertz- 
berg  has  the  knowledge  of  a  civilian,  and  is  well  read 
in  archives,  because  his  memory  is  prodigious.  He  also 
knows  something  of  practical  agriculture.  But,  on  the 
reverse,  he  is  violent,  passionate,  abundantly  vain,  and 
explains  himself  as  he  conceives,  that  is  to  say,  with 
difficulty  and  confusion;  is  desirous  but  incapable  of  do- 
ing that  good  by  which  reputation  is  acquired;  rather 
vindictive  than  malignant;  subject  to  prejudices;  disposed 
to  injure  those  against  whom  he  is  prejudiced;  and  de- 
void of  dignity,  address,  and  resource. 


272  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

Blumenthal  is  a  faithful  accountant,  an  ignorant  Min- 
ister; ambitious,  when  he  recollects  ambition,  and  to 
please  his  family;  and  full  of  respect  for  the  Treasury, 
which  he  places  far  above  the  State ;  and  of  indifference 
for  the  King,  whom  he  more  than  neglected  while  he  was 
Prince  of  Prussia. 

The  duty  has  been  taken  off  beer,  which  yielded  five 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  crowns  per  annum,  and  a 
substitute,  it  is  said,  will  be  found  by  an  additional  tax 
on  wines ;  but  wines  are  already  too  much  taxed,  and  can- 
not bear  any  such  increase.  The  expenses  of  this  part  of 
the  customs  amount  to  twenty  thousand  crowns;  sixty- 
nine  persons  employed  have  been  dismissed;  but  their 
salaries  are  continued  till  they  shall  be  replaced. 

FIRST  POSTSCRIPT. —  Count  Totleben  (a  Saxon),  who  has 
been  appointed  major  in  the  regiment  of  Elben,  was  pre- 
ceded by  a  letter  the  import  of  which  was  that  he  was 
sent  to  the  regiment  TO  LEARN  THE  SERVICE.  The  equi- 
voque of  the  expression  is  stronger  in  the  German.  The 
regiment  wrote  in  a  body  to  the  King:  <(  If  Count  Tot- 
leben be  sent  to  instruct  us,  we  have  not  merited,  nor 
will  we  endure,  such  humiliation.  If  he  come  for  instruc- 
tion, he  cannot  serve  as  major.®  Some  pretend  that  the 
dispute  is  already  settled,  and  others  that  it  will  have 
consequences. 

The  King  about  a  month  since  was  reminded  of  Cap- 
tain Forcade,  who  was  formerly  a  favorite  of  the  Prince 
of  Prussia.  His  Majesty  replied :  <(  Let  him  write  what 
his  wishes  are."  Forcade  requested  the  happiness  of 
being  one  of  his  attendants.  The  King  answered :  <(  I 
have  no  need  of  useless  officers ;  they  only  serve  to  make 
a  dust." 

SECOND  POSTSCRIPT. —  By  the  last  courier  I  sent  you 
some  calculations  on  the  coins  of  Poland.  Here  follow 
others  more  absurd,  relative  to  those  of  Denmark. 

Denmark  has  adopted,  according  to  law,  the  nominal 
value  of  its  currency  at  u£  crowns  for  the  fine  mark  of 
Cologne;  yet  it  has  for  several  years  paid  from  thirteen 
to  fourteen  crowns  the  fine  mark.  Hence  there  are  no 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  273 

silver  coins  in  Denmark,  and  business  is  all  transacted 
in  bank  bills,  the  value  of  which  is  never  to  be  realized. 

When  the  evil  began  to  be  evident,  Schimmelmann 
wished  it  might  be  remedied.  He  coined  crowns  in  specie 
9^  of  which  contained  the  fine  mark,  and  calculated  that 
the  crown  in  specie  was  equal  to  one  crown  g-£fo  sols 
currency  tubs.  The  fact  would  have  been  true,  if  the 
silver  currency  had  existed  at  n£  per  mark;  but  as  none 
such  were  to  be  found,  each  person  willingly  accepted 
the  crowns  in  specie  at  one  crown  nine  sols  currency; 
but  no  one  was  willing  to  give  a  crown  in  specie  for  one 
crown  nine  sols  currency.  The  result  was  that  all  these 
fine  crowns  in  specie  were  melted  down. 

At  present,  now  the  evil  is  excessive,  there  is  a  wish 
to  repeat  a  similar  operation,  after  the  following  manner. 

1.  Crowns   in   specie    are   to   be   coined  of  9^  to  a  fine 
mark. 

2.  Bank  bills  are  to  be  issued,  which  are  to  represent 
crowns  in  specie,  and  are  to  be  realized  or  paid  in  specie. 

3.  It    is    wished    to    fix    the    value    of    these    current 
crowns,    in    specie,  by  an  edict;    and,  as    they  could   not 
coin  the  crown  at  the  assay  of  a  crown  nine  sols  without 
loss,  it  is  intended  to  raise  their  value. 

If,  therefore,  the  present  currency  of  Denmark,  that 
is  to  say,  the  bank  bills,  have  no  real  value,  but  their 
value  consists  in  the  balance  of  payment  of  this  king- 
dom (or  the  rate  of  exchange)  as  it  shall  be  for  or 
against  Denmark,  this  operation  will  be  equally  absurd 
with  the  former;  for,  if  the  bank  shall  pay  crowns  in 
specie,  in  lieu  of  the  ideal  value  of  the  currency,  it  will 
rid  itself  of  its  crowns  in  specie,  which  will  pass  through 
the  crucible,  and  the  former  confusion  will  continue  to 
exist,  or  perhaps  be  increased  to  greater  extravagance, 
by  a  new  creation  of  bank  bills  representing  the  specie, 
which  in  like  manner  will,  in  a  few  months,  be  incapable 
of  being  realized. 

THIRD  POSTSCRIPT. —  The  new  establishment  of  the  bank 
of   specie  still   appears  to  be  obscure.     It  is  intended  to 
coin  one  million  four  hundred  thousand  crowns  in  specie, 
the  silver  for  which  should  be  at  Altona. 
18 


274  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

There  have  been  great  debates,  in  the  Council  of 
State,  between  the  Prince  of  Augustenborg,  and  the 
Minister  of  State,  Rosencranz.  The  first  requires  the 
money  should  be  coined  at  Altona,  and  the  latter  at 
Copenhagen.  It  is  said  that  the  Minister  intends  on  this 
occasion  to  give  in  his  resignation. 

Bank  bills  equal  to  the  value  of  one  million  four 
hundred  thousand  crowns  are  to  be  fabricated.  This 
bank  is  to  exchange  the  old  bills  of  the  Danish  bank 
for  the  new  bank  bills,  at  a  given  rate. 

Should  this  rate,  as  is  very  probable,  be  lower  than 
the  course  of  exchange,  it  would  be  an  excellent 
maneuver  to  buy  up  bank  bills,  at  present,  and  after- 
ward convert  them  into  specie. 


LETTER   LV. 

December  i2th,  1786. 

THE  true  reason  why  the  Duke  of  Weimar  is  so  feasted 
is  because  he  has  undertaken  to  bring  the  Queen 
to  consent  to  the  marriage  of  Mademoiselle  Voss. 
The  Queen  laughed  at  the  proposal,  and  said :  <(  Yes,  they 
shall  have  my  consent;  but  they  shall  not  have  it  for 
nothing;  on  the  contrary,  it  shall  cost  them  dear.*  And 
they  are  now  paying  her  debts,  which  amount  to  more 
than  a  hundred  thousand  crowns;  nor  do  I  believe  this 
will  satisfy  her.  While  the  King  of  Prussia  is  absorbed 
by  meditations  on  this  marriage,  to  me  it  appears  evi- 
dent that,  if  the  Emperor  be  capable  of  a  reasonable 
plan  he  is  now  wooing  two  wives,  Bavaria  and  Silesia. 
Yes,  Silesia ;  for  I  do  not  think  that  so  many  maneuvers 
on  the  Danube  can  be  any  other  than  the  domino  of  the 
masquerade.  But  this  is  not  the  place  in  which  he  will 
make  his  first  attempt.  Everything  demonstrates  (and 
give  me  credit  for  beginning  to  know  this  part  of  Ger- 
many) that  he  will  keep  on  the  defensive,  on  the  side 
of  Prussia,  which  he  will  suffer  to  exhaust  itself  in  efforts 
that  he  may  freely  advance  on  Bavaria;  nor  is  it  prob- 
able that  he  will  trouble  himself  concerning  the  means 
of  recovering  Silesia,  till  he  has  first  made  that  immense 
acquisition. 

I  say  that  he  may  freely  advance ;  for,  to  speak  openly, 
what  impediment  can  we  lay  in  his  way?  Omitting  the 
million  and  one  reasons  of  indolence  or  impotence  which 
I  could  allege,  let  it  be  supposed  that  we  should  act  — 
we  should  take  the  Low  Countries,  and  he  Bavaria;  we 
the  Milanese,  and  he  the  republic  of  Venice.  What  of 
all  this  would  save  Silesia?  And  what  must  soon  after 
become  of  the  Prussian  power?  It  will  be  saved  by  the 
faults  of  its  neighbors.  It  will  fall!  This  grand  fairy 
palace  will  come  to  the  earth  with  a  sudden  crush,  or  its 
Government  will  undergo  some  revolution. 

(275) 


276  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

The  King-  appears  very  tranquil  concerning  future  con- 
tingencies. He  is  building  near  New  Sans  Souci,  or 
rather  repairing  and  furnishing  a  charming  house,  which 
formerly  belonged  to  the  Lord  Marshal,  and  which  is 
destined  for  Mademoiselle  Voss.  The  Princess  of  Bruns- 
wick has  requested  to  have  a  house  at  Potsdam;  and  the 
King  has  bestowed  that  on  her  which  he  inhabited  as 
Prince  Royal,  which  he  is  furnishing  at  his  own  expense. 
It  is  evident  that  this  expiring  Princess,  crippled  by 
David's  disease,  and  consumed  by  inanity,  is  to  be  lady 
of  honor  to  Mademoiselle  Voss. 

The  debts  of  the  Queen  Dowager,  the  reigning  Queen, 
the  Prince  Royal,  now  become  King,  and  of  some  other 
complaisant  people,  male  and  female,  are  paid ;  and,  if  we 
add  to  these  sums  the  pensions  that  have  been  bestowed, 
the  houses  that  have  been  furnished,  and  the  officers 
that  have  been  created,  we  shall  find  the  amount  to  be 
tolerably  large.  This  is  the  true  way  to  be  prodigal 
without  being  generous.  To  this  article  it  may  be  added 
that  the  King  has  given  to  Messieurs  Blumenthal,  Gaudi, 
and  Heinitz,  Ministers  of  State,  each  a  bailliage.  This  is 
a  new  mode  of  making  a  present  of  a  thousand  louis. 
Apropos  of  the  last  of  these  Ministers,  the  King  has  re- 
plied to  several  persons  employed  in  the  Department  of 
the  Mines,  who  had  complained  of  being  superseded,  that 
hereafter  there  shall  be  no  claims  of  seniority. 

He  has  terminated  the  affair  of  the  Duke  of  Mecklen- 
burg with  some  slight  modifications. 

He  has  given  a  miraculous  kind  reception  to  General 
Count  Kalckreuth;  who  was  aid-de-camp  to  and  princi- 
pal agent  of  Prince  Henry ;  who  quarreled  with  him  out- 
rageously for  the  Princess;  and  whom  Frederick  II. 
kept  at  a  distance  that  he  might  not  too  openly  embroil 
himself  with  his  brother.  Kalckreuth  is  a  man  of  great 
merit,  and  an  officer  of  the  first  class;  but  the  affecta- 
tion with  which  he  has  been  distinguished  by  the  King 
appears  to  me  to  be  directed  against  his  uncle;  perhaps, 
too,  there  may  be  a  mingled  wish  of  reconciling  him- 
self to  the  army ;  but  should  Count  Briihl  persist  in  assum- 
ing, not  only  the  rank  which  has  been  granted  him,  but 
that  likewise  of  seniority,  which  will  supersede  all  the 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  277 

generals,  with  Moellendorf  at  their  head,  I  believe  the 
dissatisfaction  will  be  past  remedy.  All  that  is  of  little 
consequence  while  peace  shall  continue;  and  perhaps 
would  be  the  same,  were  war  immediately  declared,  for 
a  year  to  come;  but  in  process  of  time,  that  which  has 
been  sown  shall  be  reaped.  It  is  a  strange  kind  of  cal- 
culation which  spreads  discontent  through  an  excellent 
army  by  favors  and  military  distinctions,  bestowed  on  a 
race  of  men  who  have  always  been  such  indifferent  war- 
riors. 

Not  that  I  pretend  to  affirm  there  are  not  brave  and 
intelligent  men  in  the  service  of  Saxony.  There  are, 
for  example  two  at  present,  very  much  distinguished  — 
Captain  Tielke  of  the  artillery,*  whom  Frederick  wished 
to  gain  but  could  not,  though  he  offered  him  the  rank  of 
lieutenant  colonel  and  an  appointment  of  two  thousand 
crowns;  and  Count  Bellegarde,  who  is  said  to  be  one  of 
the  most  able  officers  in  the  world.  But  these  are  not 
the  persons  whom  they  have  gained  for  the  Prussian  serv- 
ice. Hitherto,  in  all  the  Saxon  promotions,  the  thing 
consulted  was  the  noble  merit  of  being  devoted  to  THE 
SECT,  or  that  of  being  recommended  by  Bishopswerder. 

POSTSCRIPT. —  I  forgot  to  mention  to  you  that  Comte 
d'Esterno  had,  at  my  intercession,  addressed  the  Comte 
de  Vergennes  on  the  proposition  of  inviting  M,  de 
la  Grange  into  France.  It  will  be  highly  worthy 
of  M.  de  Calonne  to  remove  those  money  difficulties 
which  M.  de  Briihl  will  not  fail  to  raise. 

*Well  known  to  officers  for  his  military  history  of  the  war  of  1756, 
which  has  been  translated  from  the  German  into  several  of  the  Euro- 
pean languages. 


LETTER   LVI. 

December  i6th,  1786. 

GENERAL  COUNT  KALCKREUTH  continues  to  be  in  favor. 
It  is  a  subject  worthy  of  observation,  that,  should 
this  favor  be  durable,  should  advantage  be  taken 
of  the  very  great  abilities  of  this  gentleman,  and  should 
he  be  appointed  to  some  place  of  importance,  the  King 
will  then  show  he  is  not  an  enemy  to  understanding ;  he 
is  not  jealous  of  the  merit  of  others;  nor  does  he  mean 
to  keep  all  men  of  known  talents  at  a  distance.  This 
will  prove  the  mystics  do  not  enjoy  the  exclusive  privi- 
lege of  royal  favor.  But  all  these  deductions,  I  imagine, 
are  premature;  for,  although  Kalckreuth  is  the  only 
officer  of  the  army  who  has  hitherto  been  thus  distin- 
guished; although  he  himself  had  conceived  hopes  he 
should  be ;  although  his  merit  is  of  the  first  order ;  Moel- 
lendorf  having  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  mal- 
contents, which  the  King  will  never  pardon;  Pritwitz 
being  only  a  brave  and  inconsiderate  soldier,  the  ridicu- 
lous echo  of  Moellendorf ;  Anhalt  a  madman ;  Gaudi  almost 
impotent,  because  of  his  size,  and  lying  likewise  under 
the  imputation  of  a  defect  in  personal  bravery,  which 
occasioned  Frederick  II.  to  say  of  him,  <(  He  is  a  good 
professor,  but  when  the  boys  are  to  repeat  the  lessons 
they  have  learned,  he  is  never  to  be  found."  Although 
his  other  rivals  are  too  young,  and  too  inexperienced,  to 
give  him  any  uneasiness;  in  spite  of  all  this,  I  say,  I 
scarcely  can  imagine  but  that  the  principal  cause  of  the 
distinction  with  which  the  King  has  treated  him  was  the 
desire  of  humbling  Prince  Henry.  At  least  I  am  very 
intimate  with  Kalckreuth,  of  whom  I  made  a  tolerably 
sure  conquest  at  the  reviews  of  Magdeburg,  and  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  I  know  everything  which  has 
passed  between  him  and  the  King;  in  all  which  I  do  not 
perceive  either  anything  conclusive,  or  anything  of  great 
promise. 
(278) 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  279 

The  King  supports  his  capitation  tax.  It  is  said  it  will 
be  fixed  according  to  the  following  rates:  A  lieutenant 
general,  a  Minister  of  State,  or  the  widow  of  one  of 
these,  at  about  twelve  crowns,  or  forty-eight  French 
livres;  a  major  general,  or  a  privy  councilor,  at  ten 
crowns;  a  chamberlain,  or  colonel,  eight;  a  gentleman, 
six ;  a  peasant,  who  holds  lands  in  good  provinces,  three ; 
a  half-peasant  (a  peasant  who  holds  lands  has  thirty 
acres,  a  half -peasant,  ten),  a  crown  twelve  groschen. 
In  the  poor  provinces,  a  peasant  two  crowns,  a  half- 
peasant,  one. 

Coffee  hereafter  is  only  to  pay  one  groschen  per  pound, 
and  tobacco  the  same.  The  general  directory  has  re- 
ceived a  memorial  on  the  subject  so  strongly  to  the  pur- 
pose that,  although  anonymous,  it  has  been  officially 
read,  after  which  it  was  formally  copied  to  be  sent  to 
the  tobacco  administration,  in  order  to  have  certain  facts 
verified.  The  step  appeared  to  be  so  bold  that  the  for- 
mal copy,  or  protocol,  was  only  signed  by  four  ministers 
—  Messieurs  Hertzberg,  Arnim,  Heinitz,  and  Schulem- 
berg  von  Blumberg. 

The  merchants  deputized  by  the  city  of  K6nigsberg 
have  written  that,  if  salt  is  to  continue  to  be  monopo- 
lized by  the  Maritime  Company,  it  will  be  useless  for 
them  to  come  to  Berlin ;  for  they  can  only  be  the  bearers 
of  grievances,  without  knowing  what  to  propose.  It  is 
asserted,  in  consequence,  that  the  Maritime  Company 
will  lose  the  monopoly  of  salt.  This  intelligence,  to  say 
the  least,  is  very  premature.  Salt  is  an  exceedingly  im- 
portant article ;  and  Struensee,  who  has  exerted  his  whole 
faculties  to  secure  it  to  himself,  has  been  so  perfectly 
successful  that  he  sells  five  thousand  lasts  of  salt,  twenty- 
eight  muids  constituting  nine  lasts.  (The  muid  is  one 
hundred  and  forty-four  bushels.) 

I  ask  once  again,  if  the  Maritime  Company  is  to  be 
deprived  of  its  most  lucrative  monopolies,  how  can  it 
afford  to  pay  ten  per  cent  for  a  capital  of  twelve  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns  ?  When  an  edifice,  the  summit  of 
which  is  so  lofty  and  the  basis  so  narrow,  is  once  raised, 
before  any  part  of  it  should  be  demolished,  it  were  very 
necessary  to  consult  concerning  the  props  by  which  the 


280  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

remainder  is  to  be  supported.  The  King  has  declared 
that  he  will  render  trade  perfectly  free,  if  any  means 
can  be  found  of  not  lessening  the  revenue.  Is  not  this 
declaration  pleasantly  benevolent  ?  I  think  I  hear  Job  on 
his  dunghill,  exclaiming,  (<  I  consent  to  be  cured  of  all 
my  ulcers,  and  to  be  restored  to  perfect  health,  provided 
you  will  not  give  me  any  physic,  and  will  not  subject 
me  to  any  regimen. w 

The  munificence  is  somewhat  similar  to  that  which 
shall  restore  freedom  to  all  the  merchandise  of  France, 
by  obliging  it  to  pay  excessive  heavy  duties,  the  produce 
of  which  shall  be  applied  to  the  encouragement  of  such 
manufactures  as  shall  be  supposed  capable  of  rivaling 
the  manufactures  of  foreign  nations.  I  know  not  whether 
the  King  imagines  he  has  conferred  a  great  benefit  on 
trade ;  but  I  know  that  throughout  Europe  all  contraband 
commerce  is  become  a  mere  article  of  insurance,  the 
premium  of  which  is  more  or  less  according  to  local 
circumstances;  and  that  therefore  a  heavy  duty  (with 
respect  to  the  revenue)  is  equivalent  to  a  prohibi- 
tion. 

The  King  has  ordered  his  subjects  to  be  numbered, 
that  he  may  not  only  know  their  number,  but  their  age 
and  sex.  Probably,  the  changes  which  are  projected  to 
be  made  in  the  army  are  to  be  the  result  of  this  enu- 
meration. But  we  know  how  difficult  all  such  numberings 
are  in  every  country  upon  earth.  Another  affair  is  in 
agitation,  of  a  much  more  delicate  nature,  and  which 
supposes  a  general  plan  and  great  fortitude;  which  is  a 
land  tax  on  the  estates  of  the  nobles.  The  project  begins 
to  transpire,  and  the  provincial  counselors  have  received 
orders  to  send  certain  informations,  which  seem  to  have 
this  purpose  in  view.  I  will  believe  it  is  accomplished 
when  I  see  it. 

Single  and  distinct  facts  are  of  less  importance  to  you 
than  an  intimate  knowledge  of  him  who  governs.  All 
the  characters  of  weakness  are  united  to  those  I  have  so 
often  described.  Spies  already  are  employed;  informers 
are  made  welcome;  those  who  remonstrate  meet  anger, 
and  the  sincere  are  repulsed  or  driven  to  a  distance. 
Women  only  preserve  the  right  of  saying  what  they 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  281 

please.  There  has  lately  been  a  private  concert,  at 
which  Madame  Hencke,  or  Rietz,  for  you  know  that  this 
is  one  and  the  same  person,  was  present,  and  stood  be- 
hind a  screen.  Some  noise  was  heard  at  the  door.  A 
valet  de  chambre  half  opened  it,  and  there  found  the 
Princess  Frederica  of  Prussia  and  Mademoiselle  Voss. 
The  first  made  a  sign  for  him  to  be  silent.  The  valet  de 
chambre  disobeyed.  The  King  instantly  rose,  and  intro- 
duced the  two  ladies.  Some  minutes  afterward,  a  noise 
was  again  heard  behind  the  screen.  The  King  appeared 
to  be  embarrassed.  Mademoiselle  Voss  asked  what  it 
was.  Her  royal  lover  replied,  <(  Nothing  but  my  people. M 
The  two  ladies,  however,  had  quitted  the  Queen's  card 
table  to  indulge  this  pretty  whim.  The  King  was  mak- 
ing a  joke  of  the  matter,  on  the  morrow,  when  one  of 
the  ladies  of  the  palace  who  was  present  said  to  him, 
<(  The  thing  is  very  true,  Sire ;  but  it  were  to  be  wished 
that  it  were  not.*  Another  lady  asked  him,  the  other 
day,  at  table,  <(  But  why,  Sire,  are  all  the  letters  opened 
at  the  post  office?  It  is  a  very  ridiculous  and  very  odious 
proceeding.  * 

He  was  told  that  the  German  plays,  which  he  protects 
very  much,  are  not  good.  (<  Granted,  *  replied  he ;  <(  but 
better  these  than  a  French  playhouse,  which  would  fill 
Berlin  with  hussies,  and  corrupt  the  manners  of  the  peo- 
ple.* From  which,  no  doubt,  you  would  conclude  that 
the  German  actresses  are  Lucretias.  You  must  also 
especially  admire  the  morality  of  this  protector  of  morals, 
who  goes  to  sup  in  the  house  of  his  former  mistress, 
with  three  women,  and  makes  a  procuress  of  his 
daughter. 

He  troubles  himself  as  little  with  foreign  politics  as  if 
he  were  entirely  secure  from  all  possible  tempests.  He 
speaks  in  panegyrics  of  the  Emperor,  of  the  French  al- 
ways with  a  sneer,  of  the  English  with  respect.  The 
fact  is,  the  man  appears  to  be  nothing,  less  than  nothing; 
and  I  fear  lest  those  diversions  which  may  be  made  in 
his  favor  are  exaggerated.  I  shall,  on  this  occasion,  notice 
that  the  Due  de  Deux  Ponts  escapes  us;  but  he  unites 
himself  the  closer  to  the  Germanic  league,  which  has  so 
high  an  opinion  of  itself  that  it  really  believes  it  does  not 


282  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

stand  in  need  of  our  aid.  Under  the  standard  of  what 
chief  it  has  acquired  this  presumption  Heaven  knows! 

There  is  an  anecdote  which  to  me  is  prophetical,  but 
the  force  of  which  you  will  not  feel,  for  want  of  know- 
ing the  country.  Prince  Ferdinand  has  received  the  fifty 
thousand  crowns  which  were  due  to  him,  according-  to 
the  will  of  the  King,  on  the  simple  order  of  Werder, 
conceived  in  these  words :  <(  His  Majesty  has  given  me  his 
verbal  command  to  lay  down  the  fifty  thousand  crowns 
to  Your  Highness,  which  will  be  paid  to  you  or  your 
order,  by  the  Treasury,  at  sight. —  Welner."  An  order 
for  fifty  thousand  crowns,  to  be  paid  down,  signed  by  any 
other  than  the  King,  is  a  monstrosity  in  the  political 
regulations  of  Prussia. 

Erect  a  bank,  and  blessings  be  upon  you;  for  it  is  the 
sole  resource  for  finance  which  would  not  be  horribly 
burdensome;  the  only  money-machine  which,  instead  of 
borrowing  with  dearness  and  difficulty,  will  cause  you 
to  receive;  the  only  corner  stone  on  which,  under  present 
circumstances,  the  basis  of  the  power  of  the  Minister  of 
Finance  can  be  supported.  Struensee,  who  is  more  stiff 
in  the  stirrups  than  ever,  since  he  must  necessarily  be- 
come the  professor  of  the  new  Ministry,  has  charged  me 
to  inform  you  that  the  King  will  probably  purchase 
shares  to  the  amount  of  several  millions,  if  you  will  send 
him  (Struensee)  an  abstract  of  the  regulations  of  the 
bank,  according  to  which  he  may  make  his  report  and 
proposals. 

Apropos  of  Struensee,  with  whom  I  am  daily  more  in- 
timate. He  has  desired  me  to  inform  you  that  the  change 
of  the  commandite*  for  the  dealing  in  piastres  will  very 
powerfully  lower  your  exchange ;  and  the  following  is  his 
reasoning  to  prove  his  assertion: 

<(  The  remonstrances  of  the  Bank  of  St.  Charles  to  pre- 
serve the  remittances  of  the  Court,  on  commission,  at  the 
rate  of  ten  per  cent,  have  been  entirely  rejected;  it  has 
only  been  able  to  obtain  them  on  speculation,  and  on  the 
conditions  proposed  by  the  Gremios  ;\  that  is  to  say,  at 
an  interest  of  six  per  cent  for  the  money  advanced. 

*  Money  agents. 

fA  company  of  Spanish  merchants  so  called. 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  283 

<(  The  same  bank  has  lately  changed  the  commandite  at 
Paris  for  the  piastre  business,  and  has  substituted  the 
house  of  Le  Normand  to  that  of  Le  Couteulx.  As  the 
former  does  not  at  present  possess  so  extensive  a  credit 
as  the  latter,  many  people  foresee  that  the  Spanish  bank 
will  be  under  the  necessity  of  keeping  a  greater  supply 
of  ready  money  with  their  commandite. 

<(In  the  interim,  it  has  found  itself  extremely  dis- 
tressed. Desirous  of  settling  its  accounts  with  the  House 
of  Le  Couteulx,  and  other  houses  in  France,  it  was  in 
want  of  the  sum  of  three  millions  of  French  livres.  To 
obtain  this,  it  addressed  itself  to  Government,  and  en- 
deavoring to  call  in  sixty  millions  of  reals  which  were 
its  due.  Government  having,  under  various  pretenses, 
declined  payment,  the  bank  declared  itself  insolvent,  and 
that  it  must  render  the  state  of  its  affairs  public.  This 
means  produced  its  effect;  Government  came  to  its  aid, 
and  gave  it  assignments  for  twenty  millions  of  reals, 
payable  annually.® 


LETTER   LVII. 

December  ipth,  1786. 

THE  comedy  which  Prince  Henry  had  promised  the 
world  every  Monday  had  its  first  representation  on 
yesterday  evening.  The  King  came,  contrary  to 
the  expectation  of  the  Prince,  and  highly  amused  him- 
self. I  was  a  close  observer  of  royalty,  as  you  may 
suppose.  It  is  incontrovertibly  the  cup  of  Circe  which 
must  be  presented,  in  order  to  seduce  him,  but  filled 
rather  with  beer  than  tokay.  One  remark  sufficiently 
curious,  which  I  made,  was  that  Prince  Henry  amused 
himself  for  his  own  personal  pleasure,  and  was  not  sub- 
ject to  the  least  absence  of  mind,  neither  of  politics  nor 
of  attention  to  his  guests.  All  the  foreign  ministers 
were  present,  but  I  was  the  only  stranger  who  stayed 
to  supper;  and  the  King,  who,  when  the  comedy  was 
over,  behaved  all  the  evening  with  great  reserve,  except 
when  some  burst  of  laughter  was  forced  from  him  by 
the  obscene  jests  of  Prince  Frederick  of  Brunswick,  con- 
templated me  with  an  eye  more  than  cold.  He  is  inces- 
santly irritated  against  me  by  speeches  which  are  made 
FOR  ME;  and  the  most  harmless  of  my  acquaintance  are 
represented  as  personally  offensive  to  his  Majesty.  For 
my  own  part,  I  am  perfectly  the  reverse  of  disconsolate 
on  the  subject.  I  only  notice  this  that  I  may  describe 
my  present  situation,  exactly  as  it  is,  without  any  hy- 
pocrisy. 

It  is  true  that  Count  Hertzberg  has  been  on  the  point 
of  losing  his  place,  the  occasion  of  which  was  what  fol- 
lows: He  had  announced  the  promised  arrangement  to 
the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  notwithstanding  which,  the 
affair  was  not  expedited.  Driven  beyond  his  patience, 
and  impatience  in  him  is  always  brutal,  he  one  day  said 
to  the  members  of  the  General  Directory,  <(  Gentlemen, 
you  must  proceed  a  little  faster;  business  is  not  done 
thus;  this  is  a  State  which  can  only  proceed  with  activ- 
(284) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  285 

ity.  *  An  account  was  given  to  the  King  of  this  vehement 
apostrophe.  The  Sovereign  warmly  reprimanded  his 
Minister,  who  offered  to  resign.  Blumenthal,  it  is  said, 
accommodated  the  affair. 

Apropos  of  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  the  King,  when 
he  received  his  thanks  for  the  restitution  of  his  bailliages, 
said  to  him,  <(  I  have  done  nothing  more  than  my  duty; 
read  the  device  of  my  order*  (Suum  cuique*).  The 
Poles,  when  the  Prussian  arms  were  erected  to  denote 
the  limits  of  the  frontiers,  after  dismemberment  by  the 
late  King,  added  rapuit  to  the  motto,  f  I  do  not  imagine 
Frederick  William  will  ever  give  occasion  to  a  similar 
epigram. 

A  very  remarkable  incident  in  the  history  of  the 
human  heart  was  the  following:  After  various  retrench- 
ments had  been  made  upon  this  Duke,  especially  in  the 
promises  that  had  been  given  him,  one  of  the  courtiers 
represented  to  the  King  that  he  would  not  be  satisfied. 
w  Well, M  said  his  Majesty,  (<  then  we  must  give  him  a 
yellow  ribbon;"  and,  accordingly,  yesterday  the  yellow 
ribbon  was  given.  The  vainglorious  Duke  at  this  moment 
found  the  arrangement  of  the  bailliages  perfectly  satis- 
factory, and  this  was  the  occasion  of  his  coming  to  re- 
turn thanks. 

Would  you  wish  to  obtain  a  tolerably  just  idea  of  the 
manner  of  living,  in  this  noble  TENNIS  COURT,  J  called 
the  Court  of  Berlin  ?  If  so,  pay  some  attention  to  the 
following  traits,  and  recollect  that  I  could  collect  a  hun- 
dred of  the  same  species. 

The  Princess  Frederica  of  Prussia  is  now  nineteen,  and 
her  apartment  is  open  at  eleven  every  morning. 

The  Dukes  of  Weimar,  Holstein,  and  Mecklenburg,  all 
ill-bred  libertines,  go  in  and  out  of  it  two  or  three  times 
in  the  course  of  the  forenoon. 

The  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  was  recounting  I  know  not 

*To  every  one  his  own. 

t  Suum  cuique  rapuit. —  He  took  from  every  one  his  own. 

\Tripot. — The  just  value  of  the  author's  word  seems  to  be  show  booth. 
Tennis  courts  were  formerly  hired  in  France  by  ropedancers,  tumblers, 
and  showmen ;  in  which  we  must  not  omit  the  allusion  to  the  debauchery 
of  manners  of  such  people  in  France. 


286  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

what  tale  to  the  King.  The  Prince  of  Brunswick,  awk- 
wardly enough,  trod  on  the  toe  of  a  person  present,  to 
make  him  take  notice  of  something  which  he  thought 
ridiculous.  The  Duke  stopped  short  in  his  discourse  — 
w  I  believe,  sir,  you  are  diverting  yourself  at  my  ex- 
pense.* He  went  on  with  his  conversation  to  the  King, 
and  presently  stopped  again  —  WI  have  long,  sir,  been 
acquainted  with  the  venom  of  your  tongue;  if  you  have 
anything  to  say,  speak  it  to  my  face,  and  I  shall  answer 
you. *  More  conversation  and  other  interruptions.  <(  When 
I  am  gone,  Sire,  the  Prince  will  paint  me  in  charming 
colors;  I  beg  Your  Majesty  will  recollect  what  has  just 
passed. * 

This  same  Prince  Frederick  is,  as  I  have  very  often 
told  you,  the  chief  of  the  mystics,  against  whom  he  ut- 
tered the  most  horrid  things  to  Baron  Knyphausen. 

<(  But  how  is  this,  my  Lord  ? *  replied  the  Baron ;  (<  I 
understood  you  were  the  Pope  of  that  Church.*  (<It  is 
false.  *  <(  I  have  too  good  an  opinion  of  your  honesty  to 
imagine  you  can  be  of  a  sect  which  you  disavow ;  I,  there- 
fore, give  you  my  promise  everywhere  to  declare  you 
despise  the  mystics  too  much  to  be  one  of  them;  and 
thus  you  will  recover  your  reputation.*  The  Prince  beat 
about  the  bush,  and  called  off  his  dogs. 

A  courtier,  a  grand  marshal  of  the  Court,  petitions  for 
a  place  promised  to  five  candidates.  I  remarked  to  him, 
<(  But  how,  monsieur,  if  the  place  be  engaged? *  <(  Oh, 
engagements  are  nothing  at  present,*  answered  he, 
gravely ;  <(  for  this  month  past  we  have  left  off  keeping 
our  word.* 

Welner,  the  real  author  of  the  disgrace  of  Schulem- 
burg,  went  to  see  him,  pitied  him,  and  said,  (<You  have 
too  much  merit  not  to  have  many  enemies.  *  <(  I,  many 
enemies,  monsieur!  *  said  the  ex-Minister;  (<  I  know  of 
but  three  —  Prince  Frederick,  because  I  would  not  give 
his  huntsman  a  place ;  Bishopswerder,  because  I  dismissed 
one  of  his  dependents;  and  you,  because  —  I  know  not 
why.  *  Welner  began  to  weep,  and  to  swear  that  detrac- 
tion was  everywhere  rending  his  character.  <(  Tears  are 
unworthy  of  men,*  said  Schulemburg;  <(and  I  am  unable 
to  thank  you  for  yours.* 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  287 

In  a  word,  all  is  sunken  to  the  diminutive,  as  all  was 
exalted  to  the  grand. 

It  is  asserted  that  the  Prussian  merchants  will  be  al- 
lowed a  free  trade  in  salt  and  wax.  I  cannot  verify  the 
fact  to-day ;  Struensee  will  be  too  much  occupied,  it  being 
post  day;  but  if  it  be  true,  the  Maritime  Company, 
which  at  once  will  be  deprived  of  salt,  wax,  coffee,  to- 
bacco, and  probably  of  wood,  cannot  longer  support  the 
burden  of  eighteen  per  cent  at  the  least;  a  profit  which 
no  solid  trade  can  afford,  and  which,  perhaps,  Schulem- 
burg  himself,  with  all  his  lucrative  exclusive  privileges, 
could  not  have  paid,  but  by  perplexing  the  treasury  ac- 
counts, so  that  the  gains  of  one  branch  concealed  the 
deficiencies  of  another. 

As  to  the  silk  manufactures,  which  are  proposed  to  be 
laid  aside,  I  do  not  perceive  that  any  inconvenience  what- 
ever will  result  from  this.  An  annual  bounty  of  forty 
thousand  rix-dollars  divided  among  the  master  weavers 
of  Berlin,  added  to  the  prohibition  of  foreign  silks,  will 
never  enable  them  to  maintain  a  competition.  Nay,  as  I 
have  before  explained  to  you,  the  very  manufacturers 
themselves  smuggle,  and  thus  supply  more  than  one-third 
of  the  silks  that  are  used  in  the  country;  for  it  is  easy 
to  conceive  that  purchasers  will  prefer  the  best  silks, 
which  have  more  substance  than,  and  are  of  superior 
workmanship  to,  those  which  monopoly  would  oblige  them 
to  buy.  Not  that  the  raw  materials  cost  the  manufac- 
turer of  Berlin  more  than  they  do  the  manufacturer  of 
Lyons.  They  both  procure  them  from  the  same  coun- 
tries, and  the  former  does  not  pay  the  six  per  cent  en- 
trance duty  to  which  the  Lyons  manufacturer  is  subject; 
besides  that,  the  German  workman  will  labor  with  more 
diligence  than  the  French ;  nor  is  labor  much  dearer  here 
than  at  Lyons.  The  one  receives  eighty  centimes  an  ell 
for  making,  and  the  other  ninety-five  centimes  for  the 
same  quantity,  of  equal  fineness,  which  scarcely  amounts 
to  one  and  a  half  per  cent,  on  the  price  of  the  silk,  es- 
timated at  five  livres  the  French  ell.  The  Berlin  manu- 
facturer has  likewise,  by  a  multitude  of  local  calculations 
of  trade,  to  which  I  have  paid  severe  attention,  an  ad- 
vantage of  thirty  per  cent  over  the  Lyons  trader,  at  the 


288  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

fair  of  Frankfort  on  the  Oder.  And,  whether  it  proceed 
from  a  defect  in  the  Government,  the  poverty  of  the 
workmen,  or  the  ignorance  of  the  manufacturer,  he  still 
cannot  support  the  competition.  Of  what  use,  therefore, 
are  so  many  ruinous  looms,  of  which  there  are  not  less 
than  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty,  at  Berlin,  Potsdam,  Frank- 
fort, and  Koepnic  ? — the  product  of  which,  however,  is 
far  from  being  equivalent  to  the  same  number  of  looms 
at  Lyons.  The  Berlin  weaver  will  not,  at  the  utmost, 
do  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  work  turned  out  of  hand 
by  the  weaver  of  Lyons.  Of  these  sixteen  hundred  and 
fifty  looms,  we  may  reckon  about  twelve  hundred  in 
which  are  weaved  taffetas,  brocades,  velvets,  etc.  The 
remainder  are  employed  in  fabricating  gauze,  about  nine 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand  Berlin  ells  of  which  are 
annually  produced.  (The  French  ell  is  equal  to  an  ell 
three-qiiarters  of  Berlin  measure.)  The  twelve  hundred 
silk  looms  only  produce  about  nine  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  ells;  which  in  the  whole  amount  to  one  million 
nine  hundred  and  forty  thousand  ells.  The  sum  total 
of  the  looms  consume  about  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
thousand  pounds  weight  of  raw  silk,  at  sixteen  ounces 
to  the  pound.  (You  know  that  seventy-six  thousand 
pounds  weight  of  wrought  silk  will  require  about  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  pounds  weight  of  un- 
dressed silk.)  There  are  also  twenty-eight  thousand  pair, 
per  annum,  of  silk  stockings  fabricated  at  Berlin;  which 
consume  about  five  thousand  pounds  weight  of  raw  silk. 
It  is  principally  in  the  stocking  manufactory  that  the 
silk  of  the  country  is  employed;  which,  in  reality,  is  supe- 
rior in  quality  to  that  of  the  Levant;  but  they  so  ill 
understand  the  art  of  spinning  it,  in  the  Prussian  States, 
that  it  is  with  difficulty  worked  in  the  silk  loom.  The 
stocking  manufacturers  use  it  to  a  greater  advantage, 
because,  being  cheap,  and  of  a  strong  quality,  stockings 
are  made  from  it  preferable  to  those  of  Nismes  and 
Lyons,  in  which  cities  the  rejected  silk  alone  is  set  apart 
for  stockings.  From  eight  to  twelve  thousand  pounds 
weight  of  silk  is  annually  obtained  in  the  Prussian  States, 
in  which  there  are  mulberry  trees  enough  to  supply  thirty 
thousand  pounds  weight.  This  constitutes  no  very  for- 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  289 

midable  rivalship  with  the  silk  produced  in  the  States  of 
the  King  of   Sardinia. 

The  commission  of  inquiry  has  written  to  inform  Launay 
that  it  has  no  further  demand  to  make  from  him ;  and  in 
consequence  he  has  addressed  the  King-  for  permission  to 
depart.  The  King  replied,  <(  I  have  told  you  to  wait  here 
till  the  commission  shall  be  closed.*  There  is  either 
cunning  or  tyranny  on  one  side  or  the  other. 
19 


LETTER  LVIII. 

December  23d,   1786. 

MADEMOISELLE  HtNCKE,  or  Madame  Rietz,  as  you  think 
proper  to  call  her,  has  petitioned  the  King  to  be 
pleased  to  let  her  know  what  she  is  to  expect, 
and  to  give  her  an  estate  on  which  she  may  retire.  The 
Sovereign  offered  her  a  country  house,  at  the  distance 
of  some  leagues  from  Potsdam.  The  lady  sent  a  posi- 
tive refusal,  and  the  King,  in  return,  will  not  hear  any 
mention  made  of  an  estate.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what 
shall  be  the  product  of  this  conflict  between  cupidity 
and  avarice.  The  pastoral,  in  the  meantime,  proceeds 
without  relaxation.  *  Inez  de  Castro*  has  several  times 
been  performed  at  the  German  theater,  imitated  from 
the  English,  and  not  from  the  French.  In  the  fourth 
act,  the  Prince  repeats  with  ardor  every  oath  of  fidelity 
to  a  lady  of  honor.  This  has  been  the  moment  of  each 
representation  which  the  Queen  has  chosen  to  leave  the 
house.  Was  it  the  effect  of  chance,  or  was  it  intendedly 
marked?  This  is  a  question  that  cannot  be  answered, 
from  any  consideration  of  the  turbulent  and  versatile, 
but  not  very  feeble,  character  of  this  Princess. 

When  her  brother-in-law,  the  Duke  of  Weimar,  arrived, 
the  King  gave  him  a  very  gracious  reception;  and,  by 
degrees,  his  countenance  changed  to  icy  coldness.  Con- 
jectures are  that  he  has  been  lukewarm,  or  has  wanted 
address  in  his  negotiation  with  the  Queen,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  marriage,  which  is  far  from  being  determined 
on.  Two  private  houses  have  been  bought  at  Potsdam, 
and  have  been  furnished  with  every  degree  of  magnifi- 
cence. And  to  what  purpose,  if  marriage  be  intended  ? 
May  not  the  wife  be  lodged  in  the  palace  ?  Speaking  of 
arrangements,  let  me  inform  you  that  the  King  has  sent 
a  M.  Paris,  his  valet  de  chambre,  into  France,  to  pay  his 
personal  debts  there,  and  to  purchase  such  things  as  are 
(290) 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  291 

wanting  to  these  newly  bought  houses  which  are  conse- 
crated to  love. 

The  relations  of  Mademoiselle  Voss,  who  four  months 
since  pressed  her  to  depart  for  Silesia,  there  to  marry  a 
gentleman  who  asked  her  hand,  are  at  present  the  first 
to  declare  that  the  projected  royal  marriage  would  be 
ridiculous,  and  even  absurd.  In  fact,  its  consequences 
might  be  very  dangerous;  for,  should  disgust  succeed 
enjoyment,  a  thing  which  has  been  seen  to  happen,  Ma- 
demoiselle Voss  must  separate  with  a  pension ;  instead  of 
which,  in  her  rank  of  favorite,  she  might  rapidly  make 
her  own  fortune,  that  of  her  family,  and  procure  the 
advancement  of  her  creatures. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  time  is  passed  at  Potsdam  in 
projecting  bowers  for  love;  and,  though  the  Sovereign 
might  not  perhaps  be  exactly  addressed  in  the  words  of 
LA  HIRE  to  Charles  VII. —  *I  assure  you,  Sire,  it  is  im- 
possible to  lose  a  kingdom  with  greater  gayety,"  it  may 
at  least  be  said,  <(It  is  impossible  to  risk  a  kingdom 
more  tenderly.*  But  whatever  tranquillity  may  be 
affected,  there  are  proceedings  and  projects  which,  with- 
out alarming,  for  he  certainly  has  valor,  occupy  the  Mon- 
arch. The  journey  of  the  Emperor  to  Cherson,  the  very 
abrupt  and  very  formal  declaration  of  Russia  to  the  city 
of  Dantzic,  the  intended  camp  of  eighty  thousand  men  in 
Bohemia,  for  the  amusement  of  the  King  of  Naples,  are 
at  least  incidents  that  may  compel  attention,  if  not  re- 
mark. There  are  doubts  concerning  the  journey  of  the 
Empress  into  the  Crimea,  Potemkin  being  unwilling  to 
make  her  a  witness  of  the  incredible  poverty  of  the  peo- 
ple and  the  army,  in  this  newly  acquired  garden. 

The  discouragement  of  the  Ministry  of  Berlin  still  con- 
tinues to  increase.  The  King,  for  these  two  months  has  not 
acted  in  concert  with  any  single  Minister.  Hence  their 
torpor  and  pusillanimity  are  augmented.  Count  Hertz- 
berg  is  progressive  in  his  descent,  and  Werder  begins  to 
decline.  The  King  remains  totally  unconcerned;  and 
never  was  the  mania  of  reigning  in  person  and  of  doing 
nothing  carried  to  greater  excess.  Instead  of  the  capi- 
tation, a  tax  on  houses  is  talked  of  as  a  substitute.  I 
begin  to  think  that  neither  of  these  taxes  will  take  place. 


292  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

There  is  an  inclination  to  retract  without  disgrace,  if  that 
be  possible ;  and  the  pretext  will  be  furnished  by  the  ad- 
vice of  the  provincial  presidents.  It  is  the  more  extraor- 
dinary that  this  capitation  tax  should  be  so  much  persisted 
in,  since ,  under  the  reign  of  Frederick  William  I. ,  a  sim- 
ilar attempt  was  made,  and  which  on  the  second  year  was 
obliged  to  be  renounced. 

The  Prussian  army  has  made  a  new  acquisition,  of  the 
same  kind  with  those  by  which  it  has  been  enriched  for 
these  four  months  past.  I  speak  of  Prince  Eugene  of 
Wurtemberg.  He  began  his  career  by  an  excess  of  lib- 
ertinage.  He  since  has  distinguished  himself  in  the  trade 
of  corporal-schlag*  and  by  stretching  the  severity  of 
discipline  to  ferocity.  He,  notwithstanding,  has  not 
acquired  any  great  reputation  by  these  means.  He  has 
lived  at  Paris,  and  plunged  into  mesmerism.  He  after- 
ward professed  to  be  a  somnambulist,  and  next  contin- 
ued the  farce,  by  the  practice  of  midwifery.  These 
different  masquerades  accompanied  and  concealed  the 
real  object  of  his  ambition  and  his  fervor,  which  is  to 
give  credit  to  the  sect  of  the  mystics,  of  whom  he  is  one 
of  the  most  enthusiastic  chiefs.  A  regiment  has  lately 
been  granted  him,  which  brings  him  to  Berlin.  His 
fortune  will  not  permit  him  to  live  wholly  there ;  but  his 
situation  will  allow  him  to  make  journeys  to  that  city, 
where  he  will  be  useful  to  the  fathers  of  the  new  church. 
Singular,  ardent,  and  active,  he  delivers  himself  like  an 
oracle  and  enslaves  his  hearers  by  his  powerful  and 
ecstatic  elocution,  with  his  eyes  sometimes  haggard,  always 
inflamed,  and  his  countenance  in  excessive  emotion.  In  a 
word,  he  is  one  of  those  men  whom  hypocrites  and  jug- 
glers make  their  successful  precursors. 

23d,  at  Noon. 

I  have  just  had  a  very  deep  and  almost  sentimental 
conversation  with  Prince  Henry. 

He  is  in  a  state  of  utter  discouragement,  as  well  on 
his  own  behalf  as  on  behalf  of  his  country.  He  has 
confirmed  all  I  have  related  to  you,  and  all  I  shall  now 

*  The  flogging-corporal ;  from  schlagen,  to  strike  or  whip. 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  293. 

relate, —  torpor  in  every  operation,  gloom  at  Court, 
stupefaction  among  Ministers,  discontent  everywhere. 
Little  is  projected,  less  still  is  executed.  When  it  is 
noticed  that  business  is  suffered  to  languish,  the  King's 
being  in  love  is  very  gravely  given  as  the  reason,  and 
it  is  affirmed  that  the  vigor  of  administration  depends 
on  the  compliance  of  Mademoiselle  Voss.  Remarks  at 
the  same  time  are  made  how  ridiculous  it  is  thus  to 
suspend  the  affairs  of  a  whole  kingdom,  etc,  etc. 

The  General  Directory,  which  should  be  a  Council  of 
State,  is  nothing  more  than  an  office  to  expedite  com- 
mon occurrences.  If  Ministers  make  any  proposition  no 
answer  is  returned;  if  they  remonstrate  they  meet  with 
disgust.  What  they  ought  to  do  is  so  far  from  what 
they  actually  do  that  the  debasement  of  their  dignity 
occasions  very  disagreeable  reflections.  Never  was  a 
public  opinion  produced  more  suddenly  than  it  has  been 
by  Frederick  William  II.,  in  a  country  where  the  seeds 
of  such  opinion  did  not  appear  to  exist. 

Prince  Henry  can  find  no  remedy  for  domestic  vices, 
but  he  has  no  apprehensions  concerning  foreign  affairs; 
because  the  King  is  at  present  wholly  decided  in  favor 
of  France,  and  still  more  destitute  of  confidence  for  the 
favorers  of  the  English  faction.  Pray  take  notice  that 
this  is  the  version  of  the  Prince ;  not  that  I  am  very  in- 
capable of  believing  it,  if  we  do  not  throw  up  our  own 
chances. 

What  the  public  papers  have  announced  respecting  the 
journey  of  Prince  Henry,  is  without  foundation.  Some 
wish  to  go  to  Spa  and  France,  but  no  plan  is  yet  deter- 
mined on;  a  vague  hope,  which  he  cannot  suffer  to  ex- 
pire, notwithstanding  the  blows  he  receives,  will  detain 
him  at  Rheinsberg.  Year  will  succeed  to  year;  the 
moment  of  rest  will  arrive,  and  habit  will  enchain  him 
in  his  frosty  castle,  which  he  has  lately  enlarged  and 
rendered  more  commodious.  To  these  different  motives, 
add  a  nullity  of  character,  a  will  unstable  as  the  clouds, 
frequent  indisposition,  and  a  heated  imagination,  by 
which  he  is  exhausted.  That  which  we  desire  without 
success,  gives  more  torment  than  that  which  is  executed 
with  difficulty. 


294  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

A  second  Minister  is  to  be  appointed  for  Silesia;  one 
singly  is  a  kind  of  viceroy.  It  is  dangerous,  say  they, 
to  see  with  the  eyes  of  an  individual  only.  Divide  et 
impera.  Thus  far  have  they  advanced  in  their  politics. 

Prince  Frederick  of  Brunswick  is  ardently  active  in 
his  intrigues  against  Prince  Henry,  and  the  Duke  his 
brother.  What  he  wishes  is  not  known;  but  he  wishes, 
and  hence  he  has  acquired  a  certain  importance  among 
the  tumultuous  crowd,  who  cannot  perceive  that  a  con- 
temptible Prince  is  still  more  contemptible  than  an  ordi- 
nary man.  He  neither  can  be  of  any  durable  utility, 
nor  in  the  least  degree  agreeable  or  estimable ;  but,  under 
certain  given  circumstances,  he  may  be  a  very  necessary 
spy. 


LETTER  LIX. 

December  26th,   1786. 

A  GRAND  list  of  promotions  is  spoken  of,  in  which  Prince 
Henry  and  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  are  included,  as 
field  marshals.  But  the  first  says  he  will  not  be 
a  field  marshal.  He  continually  opposed  that  title  being 
bestowed  on  the  Duke,  under  Frederick  II.,  who  refused 
to  confer  such  a  rank  on  the  princes  of  the  blood.  This 
alternative  of  haughtiness  and  vanity,  even  aided  by  his 
ridiculous  comedy,  will  not  lead  him  far.  He  intends  to 
depart  in  the  month  of  September  for  Spa;  he  is  after- 
ward to  visit  our  southern  provinces,  and  from  thence  is 
to  continue  his  journey  to  Paris,  where  he  is  to  pass  the 
winter.  Such  are  his  present  projects,  and  the  proba- 
bility is  sufficiently  great  that  not  anything  of  all  this 
will  happen. 

The  King  has  declared  that  he  will  not  bestow  any 
places  on  persons  who  are  already  in  office  under  the 
Princes.  This  may  perhaps  be  the  cause  that  Count 
Nostitz  has  forsaken  Prince  Henry.  The  Count  is  a  very 
strange  kind  of  being. 

First  sent  into  Sweden,  where  he  erected  himself  a 
chief  of  some  envoys  of  the  second  order,  finding  him- 
self dissatisfied  with  the  severe  laws  of  etiquette,  he 
passed  a  slovenly  life  in  an  office,  which  he  exercised 
without  abilities.  On  his  return  he  procured  himself  the 
appointment  of  one  of  the  gentlemen  who  accompanied 
the  Prince  Royal  into  Russia,  but  the  consent  of  the 
Prince  he  had  forgotten  to  ask.  He  \was  consequently 
regarded  as  an  inconvenient  inspector,  and  was  but  spar- 
ingly produced  on  public  occasions.  Hence  arose  ill- 
humor,  complaints,  and  murmurs.  The  late  King  sent 
him  into  Spain,  where  he  dissipated  the  remainder  of  his 
fortune.  The  merchants  of  Embden,  and  of  Konigsberg, 
requested  the  Spaniards  would  lower  the  duties  on  I  know 
not  what  species  of  merchandise.  Count  Nostitz  solicited, 

(295) 


296  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

negotiated,  and  presently  wrote  word  "  that  the  new  regu- 
lations were  wholly  to  the  advantage  of  the  Prussian  sub- 
jects. a  The  King  ordered  the  Court  of  Spain  to  be 
thanked.  Fortunately,  Count  Finckenstein,  who  had  not 
received  the  regulations,  delayed  sending  the  thanks. 
The  regulations  came,  and  the  Prussian  merchants  were 
found  to  be  more  burdened  than  formerly.  His  Majesty 
was  in  a  rage.  Nostitz  was  suddenly  recalled,  and  ar- 
rived at  Berlin  without  the  fortune  that  he  had  spent,  desti- 
tute of  the  respect  that  he  had  lost,  and  deprived  of  all 
future  hopes.  Prince  Henry  welcomed  him  to  his  palace, 
an  asylum  open  to  all  malcontents.  Here  he  remained 
eighteen  months,  and  here  displayed  himself  in  the  same 
manner  that  he  had  done  everywhere  else  —  inconsistent 
in  his  imaginations,  immoral  in  mind,  ungracious  in 
manners,  not  capable  of  writing,  not  willing  to  read,  as 
vain  as  a  blockhead,  as  hot  as  a  turkey  cock,  and  unfit 
for  any  kind  of  office,  because  he  neither  possesses  prin- 
ciples, seductive  manners,  nor  knowledge.  Such  as  here 
depicted,  this  insipid  mortal,  the  true  hero  of  the  Dun- 
ciad,  is  in  a  few  days  to  be  appointed  envoy  to  the  Elect- 
orate of  Hanover.  In  excuse  for  so  capricious  a  choice, 
it  is  alleged  that  he  will  have  nothing  to  do  in  the  place. 
But  wherefore  send  a  man  to  a  place  where  he  has  noth- 
ing to  do? 

Madame  Rietz,  who  of  all  the  mistresses  of  the  Sovereign 
has  most  effectually  resisted  the  inconstancy  of  men,  and 
the  intrigues  of  the  wardrobe,*  has  modestly  demanded 
the  margraviate  of  Schwedt  from  the  King,  to  serve  as 
a  place  of  retreat;  and  four  gentlemen  to  travel  with 
her  son  as  with  the  son  of  a  Monarch.  This  audacious 
request  has  not  displeased  the  King,  who  had  been 
offended  by  the  demand  made  of  an  estate.  He,  no 
doubt,  has  discovered  that  he  is  highly  respected,  now 
that  he  receives  propositions  so  honorable. 

His  former  friends  no  longer  can  obtain  a  minute's 
audience;  the  gates  to  them  are  gates  of  brass.  But  a 
comedian,  whose  name  is  Matron,  at  present  an  innkeeper 
at  Verviers,  lately  came  to  solicit  his  protection.  He 
chose  the  moment  when  the  King  was  stepping  into  his 

*  La  garde-robe.     <(An  ounce  of  civet,  good  apothecary.® 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  297 

carriage.  The  King  said  to  him,  "By  and  by;  by  and 
by."  Marron  waited;  the  King  returned,  sent  for  him 
into  his  apartments,  spoke  with  him  a  quarter  of  an  hour, 
received  his  request,  and  promised  everything  for  which 
he  petitioned.  Never,  no,  never  will  subaltern  influence 
decline ;  footmen  will  be  all-puissant.  Welner  has  publicly 
obtained  the  surname  of  VICEROY,  or  of  PETTY  KING. 

The  Monarch  has  written  to  the  General  of  the  gen- 
darmes (Pritwitz),  noticing  that  several  of  his  officers 
played  at  games  of  chance;  that  these  games  were  for- 
bidden ;  that  he  should  renew  the  prohibitions  under  pain 
of  being  sent  to  the  fortress  for  the  first  offense,  and  of 
being  broken  for  the  second.  The  information  and  the 
threat  were  meant  at  the  General  himself,  who  has  lost 
much  money  with  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg. 

It  is  affirmed  that  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  will  be  here 
from  the  eighth  to  the  fifteenth  of  January.  But  Archi- 
medes himself  demanded  a  point  of  support,  and  I  see 
none  of  any  kind  at  Berlin.  There  are  numerous  wishes, 
but  not  one  will ;  and  the  wishes  themselves  are  incoher- 
ent, contradictory,  and  rash;  he  does  not  know,  nor  will 
he  ever  know,  how  to  connect  a  single  link  in  the  chain: 
he  will  more  especially  never  know  how  to  lop  off  the 
parasitical  and  avaricious  sucker.  Agriculture  is  what  is 
most  necessary  to  be  encouraged,  particularly  as  soon  as 
commercial  oppression  shall  be  renounced;  though  this 
oppression  has  hitherto  been  productive  of  gold,  thanks 
to  the  situation  of  the  Prussian  States.  But  how  may 
agriculture  be  encouraged  in  a  country  where  the  half 
of  the  peasants  are  attached  to  the  glebe  ?  For  so  they 
are  in  Pomerania,  Prussia,  and  in  other  parts. 

It  would  be  a  grand  operation  in  the  royal  domains, 
were  they  divided  into  small  farms,  as  has  so  long  since 
been  done  by  the  great  landholders  in  England.  It  is  a 
subject  of  much  greater  importance  than  regulations  of 
trade ;  but  there  are  so  many  interested  people  to  be  con- 
troverted, and  the  habit  of  servitude  is  so  rooted,  that 
strength  of  understanding,  energy,  and  consistency,  not 
one  grain  of  which  I  can  find  here,  are  necessary  to  make 
the  attempt.  More  knowledge  likewise  is  requisite  than 
will  here  be  found,  for  a  long  time  to  come,  for  it  to  be 


298  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

supposed  that  there  is  no  town,  no  province,  which  would 
not  most  gladly  consent  to  pay  the  King  much  more  than 
the  neat  revenue  he  at  present  obtains,  if  he  would  suffer 
the  inhabitants  to  assess  themselves;  taking  care,  how- 
ever, continually  to  watch  over  the  assessments,  that  the 
magistrates  and  nobles  might  not  oppress  the  people;  or 
for  it  to  be  imagined  that  the  subject  would  not  gain 
three-fourths  of  the  expenses  of  collecting,  and  would  be 
free  of  all  those  unworthy  restraints  which  are  at  present 
imposed  upon  them  by  the  fiscal  treasury. 

It  is  also  necessary  to  recollect  that  it  is  not  here  as 
with  us,  where  the  body,  the  mass,  of  national  wealth 
is  so  great,  because  of  the  excellence  of  the  soil  and  the 
climate,  the  correspondence  between  the  provinces,  etc., 
etc.,  that  we  may  cut  as  close  as  we  will,  provided  we 
do  not  erect  kilns  to  burn  up  the  grass;  and  that  in 
France  the  expenses  of  collecting  only  need  be  diminished ; 
that  no  other  relief  is  necessary;  nay,  that  we  may  still 
prodigiously  increase  the  load,  provided  that  load  be  well 
poised.  Here,  two  or  three  provinces  at  the  utmost  ex- 
cepted,  the  basis  is  so  narrow  and  the  soil  so  little 
fruitful,  so  damp,  so  impoverished,  that  it  is  only  for 
tutelary  authority  to  perform  the  greatest  part  of  all 
which  can  reconcile  Nature  to  this  her  neglected  offspring. 
The  division  of  the  domains  itself,  an  operation  so  pro- 
ductive of  every  kind  of  resource,  requires  very  powerful 
advances;  for  the  farmer's  stock  and  the  implements  of 
husbandry  are,  perhaps,  those  which,  when  wanting,  the 
arm  can  least  supply. 

Independent  of  this  grand  point  of  view,  we  must  not 
forget  THE  MILITARY  POWER,  which  must  here  be  respected, 
for  here  there  are  neither  Alps  nor  Apennines,  rivers 
nor  seas,  for  ramparts;  here,  therefore,  with  six  millions 
of  inhabitants,  Government  is  desirous,  and,  to  a  certain 
point,  is  obliged,  to  maintain  two  hundred  thousand  men 
in  arms.  In  war  there  are  no  other  means  than  those  of 
courage  or  of  obedience,  and  obedience  is  an  innate  idea 
in  the  SERF  peasant;  for  which  reason,  perhaps,  the 
grand  force  of  the  Prussian  army  consists  in  the  union 
of  the  feudal  and  military  systems.  Exclusive  of  that  vast 
consideration,  which  I  shall  elsewhere  develop,  let  me 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  299 

add  it  will  not  be  sufficient  here  to  act  like  such  or  such 
a  Russian  or  Polish  lord,  and  say,  *  You  are  enfran- 
chised, *  for  the  serfs  here  will  reply,  <(  We  are  very  much 
obliged  to  you  for  your  enfranchisement,  but  we  do  not 
choose  to  be  free  w ;  or  even  to  bestow  land  gratuitously 
on  them,  for  they  will  answer,  *  What  would  you  have 
us  do  with  lands  ? w*  Proprietors  and  property  can  only 
be  erected  by  making  advances,  and  advances  are  ex- 
pensive; and,  as  there  are  so  few  governments  which 
have  the  wisdom  to  sow  in  order  that  they  may  reap, 
this  will  not  be  the  first  to  begin.  It  is  little  probable 
that  the  morning  of  wholesome  politics  should  first  break 
upon  this  country. 

At  present  it  is  almost  publicly  known  that  the  Comte 
d'Esterno  is  to  depart  in  the  month  of  April  for  France. 
I  shall  submit  it  to  your  delicacy,  and  to  your  justice, 
to  pronounce  whether  I  can  remain  here  the  overseer  of 
a  charg^  d'affaires.  During  his  absence,  functions  might 
be  bestowed  on  me;  here  I  certainly  would  not  remain 
under  an  envoy  per  interim ;  nor  would  this  require  more 
than  the  simple  precaution  of  sending  me  secret  creden- 
tials. But,  as  no  such  thing  will  be  done,  you  will  per- 
ceive that  this  is  a  new  and  very  strong  reason  for  my 
departure  about  that  time.  Those  who  would  make  me 
nothing  more  than  a  gazetteer  are  ill-acquainted  with 

*  It  is  a  melancholy  truth  that  such  is,  and  indeed  such  must  nec- 
essarily be,  the  spirit  of  serf  peasants ;  nay,  in  Russia  this  error  is  more 
rooted  than  in  Prussia.  The  peasants  have  no  examples  of  the 
possibility  of  existing  in  a  state  of  independence ;  they  think  themselves 
certain  of  an  asylum  against  hunger  and  old  age  in  the  domains  of  their 
tyrants,  and,  if  enfranchised,  would  imagine  themselves  abandoned  to 
an  inhospitable  world  (which  indeed,  locally  speaking,  they  would  be), 
in  which  they  must  be  exposed  to  perish  with  cold  and  hunger.  Men 
in  a  body  must  be  led  to  act  from  motives  of  interest,  which,  when  well 
understood,  are  the  best  of  motives.  Nothing  would  be  more  easy  than 
to  convince  the  peasantry  of  the  largest  empire,  in  a  few  years,  of  what 
their  true  interest,  and  the  true  interest  of  all  parties  is,  were  not  the 
majority  of  men,  unfortunately,  incapable  of  looking  far  beyond  the 
trifling  wants  and  the  paltry  passions  of  the  moment.  It  is  a  melancholy 
consideration  that  so  many  ages  must  yet  revolve  before  truths  so 
simple  shall  be  universally  known,  even  now  that  the  divine  art  of 
printing  is  discovered. 


300  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

mankind;  and  still  more  so  those  who  hope  to  oblige  me 
to  consent  tacitly  or  perforce. 

POSTSCRIPT  —  The  Count  de  Masanne,  a  fervent  mystic, 
is  the  grand  master  of  the  Queen's  household.  Welner 
supped  with  her  yesterday,  and  had  the  place  of  honor; 
that  is  to  say,  he  sat  opposite  her.  If  he  cede  to  wishes 
of  such  indecent  vanity,  he  will  presently  be  undone. 


LETTER  LX 

December  soth,   1786. 

YESTERDAY  was  a  memorable  moment  for  the  man  of 
observation.  Count  Briihl,  a  Catholic,  a  foreigner, 
assuming  his  rank  in  the  Prussian  army,  was  in- 
stalled in  his  place  as  Governor,  and  the  capitation  tax 
was  intimated.  This  capitation,  so  openly  contemned, 
supported  with  so  much  obstinacy,  demonstrated  to  be 
vicious  in  its  principle,  impossible  of  execution,  and 
barren  in  product,  at  once  announces  the  disgraceful 
inanity  of  the  General  Directory,  by  which  it  was  loudly 
opposed,  and  the  sovereign  influence  of  the  subaltern  by 
whom  its  chiefs  have  been  resisted.  How  can  we  sup- 
pose the  King  has  been  deceived  respecting  the  public 
opinion  of  an  operation  so  universally  condemned?  How 
may  he  be  excused,  since  his  Ministers  themselves  have 
informed  him  that  he  was  in  danger  of,  perhaps  forever, 
casting  from  him,  at  the  very  commencement  of  his 
reign,  the  title  of  well-beloved,  of  which  he  was  so  am- 
bitious ?  Here  we  at  least  behold  the  ambiguous  morning 
of  a  cloudy  reign. 

The  Queen  is  not  satisfied  with  the  choice  that  has  been 
made  of  Count  Briihl,  neither  is  she  with  the  regulations 
of  her  household,  and  therefore  she  is  again  contracting 
debts.  She  is  allowed,  for  expenses  of  every  kind,  only 
fifty-one  thousand  crowns  per  annum.  It  will  be  difficult 
for  her  to  make  this  sum  supply  her  real  wants,  her 
generous  propensities,  and  her  numerous  caprices.  Blind 
to  the  amours  of  the  King,  she  can  see  the  disorder  of  his 
domestic  affairs.  The  day  before  yesterday  there  was  no 
wood  for  the  fires  of  her  apartments.  Her  house  steward 
entreated  the  steward  of  the  royal  palace  to  lend  him 
his  assistance.  The  latter  excused  himself  because  of 
the  smallness  of  his  remaining  stock.  How,  you  will  ask, 
can  disorder  so  indecent  happen  ?  Because  the  quantity 

(301) 


302  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

consumed  was  regulated  by  the  late  King,  on  the  sup- 
position that  the  Queen  and  her  children  resided  at 
Potsdam.  Since  his  death  no  person  has  thought  of  the 
necessary  addition.  Such  incidents,  trifling  as  they  are 
in  themselves,  prove  to  what  excess  carelessness  and  the 
defects  of  inconsistency  are  carried. 

Count  Briihl  was  waited  for  in  order  to  furnish  the 
house  of  the  Princes.  As  he  is  overwhelmed  by  debts, 
and  is  a  Saxon  nobleman  ruined,  it  was  requisite  the 
King  should  cause  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  crowns 
to  be  paid  at  Dresden,  to  satisfy  the  most  impatient 
of  his  creditors.  Opinions  concerning  him  are  di- 
vided. 

The  only  points  on  which  people  are  unanimous  are, 
that  he  is  one  of  the  flock  of  the  elect  (the  mystics),  and 
that  he  plays  exceedingly  well  on  the  violin.  Those  who 
have  been  acquainted  with  him  fifteen  years  ago  speak 
in  raptures  of  his  amenity.  Those  whose  knowledge  of 
him  is  more  recent  are  silent.  Those  who  are  totally 
unacquainted  with  him  say  he  is  the  most  amiable  of 
men.  His  pupil  smiles  when  he  is  praised.  It  is  affirmed 
that  the  Grand  Duke  has  sent  him  here,  and  that  it  is 
his  intention  to  take  him  to  himself  whenever  he  shall 
have  the  power. 

The  Prince  Royal  will  soon  be  worthy  the  trouble  of 
observation;  not  merely  because  Frederick  II.  drew  his 
horoscope  in  the  following  terms  — (<  I  shall  reign  again 
in  him,"  for  perhaps  he  only  meant  by  that  to  testify 
his  contempt  for  the  present  King ;  but  because  all  things 
in  him  proclaim  greatness,  but  ungraciousness  of  charac- 
ter; awkwardness,  but  a  speaking  countenance;  unpol- 
ished, but  sincere.  He  asks  the  wherefore  of  everything, 
nor  will  he  ever  be  satisfied  with  a  reply  that  is  not 
reasonable.  He  is  severe  and  tenacious,  even  to  ferocity, 
and  yet  is  not  incapable  of  affection  and  sensibility.  He 
already  knows  how  to  esteem  and  contemn.  His  disdain 
of  his  father  approaches  hatred,  which  he  is  not  very 
careful  to  conceal.  His  veneration  of  the  late  King  par- 
takes of  idolatry,  and  this  he  proclaims.  Perhaps  the 
youth  is  destined  to  great  actions ;  and,  should  he  become 


THE  COURT  OF   BERLIN  303 

the  engine  of  some  memorable  revolution,  men  who  can 
see  to  a  distance  will  not  be  surprised. 

Launay  at  length  departs;  and,  as  I  believe,  solely 
from  the  fear  which  the  Ministry,  or  rather  which  Wel- 
ner,  has  that  the  King  should,  in  some  weary  or  embar- 
rassed moment,  restore  him  to  his  place.  His  dismission 
has  been  granted  to  him  only  on  condition  that  he  would 
give  up  twenty-five  thousand  crowns  of  arrears,  which 
are  his  due.  This  is  a  shameful  piece  of  knavery.  They 
have  exacted  an  oath  from  him  that  he  will  not  carry  off 
any  papers  that  relate  to  the  State.  This  is  pitiable 
weakness.  For  of  what  validity  is  such  an  oath?  He 
may  afford  you  some  useful,  or  rather  curious,  annota- 
tions. In  other  respects,  the  man  is  nothing,  less  than 
nothing.  He  does  not  so  much  as  suspect  the  elements 
of  his  own  trade.  His  speech  is  perplexed,  his  ideas  are 
confused;  in  a  word,  he  could  only  act  a  great  part  in  a 
country  where  he  had  neither  judges  nor  rivals.  But  he 
is  not,  as  he  is  accused  of  being,  a  malicious  person.  He 
is  a  very  weak  and  a  very  vain  man,  and  nothing  more. 
He  has  acted  the  part  of  an  executioner,  no  doubt;  but 
where  is  the  financier  who  has  not?  Where  would  be 
the  justice  of  demanding  the  hangman  to  be  racked  be- 
cause of  the  tortures  he  had  inflicted  in  pursuance  of  the 
sentence  which  the  judge  had  pronounced? 

He  will  predict  deficiencies  in  the  revenue,  and  in 
this  he  will  not  be  wrong;  but  he  perhaps  will  not  in- 
form you,  although  it  is  exceedingly  true,  that  econom- 
ical principles,  which  are  the  guardians  of  this  country, 
are  already  very  sensibly  on  the  decline.  The  service 
is  more  expensive,  the  houses  of  princes  more  numer- 
ous, the  stables  are  better  filled,  pensions  are  multi- 
plied, arrangements  more  costly,  salaries  of  ambassadors 
almost  doubled,  the  manners  more  elegant,  etc.  The 
greatest  part  of  these  expenses  was  necessary.  The  real 
misfortune  is  that  there  is  no  care  taken  for  the  pro- 
portionate increase  of  the  revenue  by  slow,  but  certainly 
productive,  means;  and  that  they  seem  not  to  suppose 
there  will  be  any  deficiency,  which  will  at  length  make 
an  immense  error  in  the  sum  total;  so  that,  without 


304  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

war,  a  long  reign  may  see  the  end  of  the  Treasury, 
should  the  present  measures  be  pursued.  It  is  not  the 
prodigality  of  pomp  which  excites  murmurs.  It  is  a 
prodigality  in  contrast  to  the  personal  avarice  of  the 
King  which  is  to  be  dreaded.  It  is  an  insensible,  but  a 
continual  wasting.  Hitherto  the  evil  is  inconsiderable, 
and,  no  doubt,  does  not  strike  any  person;  but  I  begin 
to  understand  the  country  in  the  whole,  and  I  perceive 
these  things  more  distinctly  than  I  can  describe. 

It  was  a  custom  with  the  late  King,  every  year,  on 
the  twenty-fourth  of  December,  to  make  presents  to  his 
brothers  and  sisters,  the  whole  sum  of  which  amounted 
to  about  twenty  thousand  crowns.  This  custom  the 
nephew  has  suppressed.  A  habitude  of  forty  years  had 
led  the  uncles  to  consider  these  gratuities  as  a  part  of 
their  income;  nor  did  they  expect  that  they  should  have 
SET  the  first  examples,  or  rather  have  BEEN  MADE  the 
first  examples,  of  economy.  Faithful  to  his  peculiar 
mode  of  making  presents,  the  King  has  gratified  the 
Duke  of  Courland  with  a  yellow  ribbon.  It  would  be 
difficult  more  unworthily  to  prostitute  his  Order. 

To  this  sordidness  of  metal,  and  this  debauchery  of 
moral,  coin,  examples  of  easy  prodigality  may  be  op- 
posed. The  house  of  the  Jew  Ephraim  had  paid  two 
hundred  thousand  crowns,  on  account,  for  the  late  King, 
at  Constantinople,  during  the  Seven  Years'  War.  The 
money  was  intended  to  corrupt  some  Turks,  but  the  pro- 
ject failed.  Frederick  II.  continually  delayed  the  repay- 
ment of  the  sum.  His  successor  yesterday  reimbursed  the 
heirs  of  Ephraim.* 

A  saddler  who  had  thirty  years  been  the  creditor  of 
the  late  King,  who  never  would  pay  the  debts  he  had 
contracted  while  Prince  Royal,  demanded  the  sum  of 

*It  is  curious  to  read,  in  the  « History  of  the  Seven  Years'  War» 
(Chap,  ix.),  the  account  which  this  conscientious  King  gives  of  the 
CORRUPTION  he  attempted  and  the  profusion  with  which  he  scattered  the 
money  of  the  uncircumcised  Jew,  but  whom  he  takes  good  care  never  to 
mention.  It  was  the  treasure  of  THE  STATE,  and  the  State,  with  all  its 
goods  and  chattels,  flocks  and  herds,  biped  and  quadruped,  serfs  and 
Jews  included,  were  his  —  for  «  was  he  not  every  inch  a  King  ?  » 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  305 

three  thousand  crowns  from  his  present  Majesty.  The 
King  wrote  at  the  bottom  of  the  petition :  w  Pay  the  bill 
at  sight,  with  interest  at  six  per  cent." 

The  Duke  of  Holsteinbeck  is  at  length  to  go  to 
Kb'nigsberg,  to  take  command  of  a  battalion  of  grenadiers. 
I  have  elsewhere  depicted  this  insignificant  Prince,  who 
will  be  a  boy  at  sixty,  and  who  will  neither  do  harm  to 
the  enemies  of  the  State  nor  good  to  his  private  friends. 

20 


LETTER     LXI. 

January  ist,  1787. 

THE  King  has  lately  bestowed  his  Order  on  four  of  his 
subjects.  The  one  is  the  keeper  of  his  treasury  (M. 
von  Blumenthal),  a  faithful  but  a  dull  Minister. 
The  second  is  the  master  of  his  horse,  M.  von  Schwerin, 
a  silly  buffoon  under  the  late  King,  a  cipher  during  his 
whole  life,  a  perplexed  blockhead,  and  on  whom  the  first 
experiment  that  was  made,  after  the  accession,  was  to  de- 
prive him  of  his  place.  The  third  is  his  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernor, a  man  of  eighty,  who  has  been  kept  at  a  distance 
for  these  eighteen  years  past,  and  who  is  destitute  of 
talents,  service,  dignity,  and  esteem  for  his  pupil,  which 
perhaps  is  the  first  mark  of  good  sense  he  ever  betrayed. 
The  last  who  is  not  yet  named,  is  Count  Bruhl,  who  is 
thus  rewarded  by  titles,  after  receiving  the  most  effective 
gratifications  before  he  has  exercised  any  office.  What 
a  prostitution  of  honors!  I  say  what  a  prostitution;  for 
the  prodigality  with  which  they  are  bestowed  is  itself 
prostitution. 

Among  others  who  have  received  favors,  a  mystic 
priest  is  distinguished, —  a  preacher  of  effrontery,  who  re- 
poses on  the  couch  of  gratifications,  at  the  expense  of 
two  thousand  crowns.  To  him  add  Baron  Boden,  driven 
from  Hesse  Cassel,  a  spy  of  the  police  at  Paris,  known  at 
Berlin  to  be  a  thief,  a  pickpocket,  a  forger,  capable  of 
everything  except  that  which  is  honest,  and  of  whom  the 
King  himself  said  he  is  a  rascal,  yet  on  whom  he  has 
bestowed  a  chamberlain's  key.  Pensions  innumerable 
have  been  granted  to  obscure  or  infamous  courtiers.  The 
Academicians,  Welner  and  Moulines,  are  appointed  di- 
rectors of  the  finances  of  the  Academy. 

All  these  favors  announce  a  Prince  without  judgment, 
without  delicacy,  without  esteem  either  for  himself  or 
his  favors;  reckless  of  his  own  fame,  or  of  the  opinion 
(306) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  307 

of  the  public;  and  as  proper  to  discourage  those  who 
possess  some  capacity  as  to  embolden  such  as  are 
natively  nothing,  or  worse  than  nothing. 

The  contempt  of  the  people  is  the  merited  salary  of 
so  many  good  works;  and  this  contempt  is  daily  more 
pointed;  the  stupor  by  which  it  was  preceded  is  now  no 
more.  The  world  was  at  first  astonished  to  see  the 
King  faithful  to  his  comedy,  faithful  to  his  concert, 
faithful  to  his  old  mistress,  faithful  to  his  new  one,  find- 
ing time  to  examine  engravings,  furniture,  the  shops  of 
tradesmen,  to  play  on  the  violoncello,  to  inquire  into 
the  tricks  of  the  ladies  of  the  palace,  and  seeking  for 
moments  to  attend  to  ministers,  who  debate  in  his  hear- 
ing on  the  interests  of  the  State.  But  at  present 
astonishment  is  incited  if  some  new  folly  or  some  habit- 
ual sin  has  not  consumed  one  of  his  days. 

The  new  uniforms  invented  by  his  Majesty  have  this 
day  made  their  appearance.  This  military  bauble,  pre- 
pared for  the  day  on  which  men  have  the  ridiculous 
custom  of  making  a  show  of  themselves,  confirms  the 
opinion  that  the  sovereign  who  attaches  so  much  import- 
ance to  such  a  circumstance  possesses  that  kind  of  under- 
standing which  induces  him  to  believe  that  parading  is 
a  thing  of  consequence. 

Is  his  heart  better  than  his  understanding  ?  Of  this 
men  begin  to  doubt. 

Count  Alexander  Wartensleben,  a  former  favorite  of 
the  present  King,  who  was  imprisoned  at  Spandau  for 
his  fidelity  to  him,  being  sent  for  from  the  farther  part 
of  Prussia  to  Berlin,  to  command  the  guards,  has  lately 
been  placed  at  the  head  of  a  Brandenburg  regiment; 
and  by  this  arrangement  he  loses  a  pension  of  a  hundred 
guineas,  which  was  granted  him  by  the  King  while 
Prince  Royal.  This  frank  and  honest  officer  is  a  stranger 
to  the  sect  in  favor;  and,  after  having  languished  in  a 
kind  of  forgetfulness,  finally  receives  a  treatment  which 
neither  can  be  called  disgrace  nor  reward.  This  is  gen- 
erally considered  as  a  deplorable  proof  that  the  King,  to 
say  the  least,  neither  knows  how  to  love  nor  hate. 

Mademoiselle  Voss  has  been  persuaded  that  it  would 
be  more  generous  in  her  to  prevent  her  lover  committing 


3o8  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

a  folly  than  to  profit  by  such  folly;  for  thus  is  the  mar- 
riage publicly  called,  which  would  have  become  a  subject 
of  eternal  reproach  whenever  the  intoxication  of  passion 
should  have  slumbered.  The  beauty,  therefore,  will  be 
made  a  countess,  become  rich,  and  perhaps  the  sovereign 
of  the  will  of  the  Sovereign,  but  not  his  spouse.  Her  in- 
fluence may  be  productive  of  great  changes,  and  in  other 
countries  might  render  Count  Schulemburg,  the  son-in-law 
of  Count  Finckenstein,  first  Minister.  He  has  acted  very 
wisely  in  attaching  Struensee  to  himself,  who  teaches  him 
his  trade  with  so  much  perspicuity  that  the  Count  imagines 
his  trade  is  learned.  He  has  besides  an  exercised  under- 
standing, and  an  aptitude  to  industry,  order,  consistency, 
and  energy.  Aided  by  his  tutor,  he  will  find  no  difficulties 
too  great;  and  he  is  the  man  necessary  for  this  King, 
whose  will  is  feeble  and  cowardly.  The  late  King  was 
equally  averse  to  men  of  many  difficulties,  but  it  was  from 
a  conviction  of  his  own  superiority.  Great  talents,  how- 
ever, are  little  necessary  to  reign  over  your  men  of 
Topinamboo. 

The  memorial  against  the  capitation  tax,  which  has  been 
signed  by  Messieurs  Hertzberg,  Heinitz,  Arnim,  and 
Schulemburg,  concludes  with  these  words:  "This  opera- 
tion, which  alarms  all  classes  of  Your  Majesty's  subjects, 
effaces  in  their  hearts  the  epithet  of  WELL-BELOVED,  and 
freezes  the  fortitude  of  those  whom  you  have  appointed 
to  your  Council. w  Struensee,  on  his  part,  has  sent  in  two 
pages  of  figures,  which  demonstrate  the  miscalculations 
that  will  infallibly  be  discovered  when  the  tax  has  been 
collected.  Messieurs  Werder,  Gaudi,  and  probably  Werner, 
persist;  and  the  King,  who  neither  has  the  power  to  re- 
sist a  plurality  of  voices,  nor  that  of  receding,  dares  not 
yet  decide. 

On  the  i  sth  of  February,  he  is  to  depart  for  Potsdam, 
where  he  proposes  to  continue  the  remainder  of  the 
year;  that  period  excepted  when  he  journeys  into  Sile- 
sia and  Prussia. 

POSTSCRIPT  —  Evening. —  The  King  has  to-day  advanced 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick  to  the  rank  of  field  marshal. 
This  is  indubitably  the  first  honorable  choice  he  has 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  309 

made;   and   everybody   approves   his   having    singly  pro- 
moted this  Prince. 

January  zd. 

The  Dutch  envoy  has  thrown  me  into  a  state  of  great 
embarrassment,  and  into  astonishment  not  less  great. 
He  has  asked  me,  in  explicit  terms,  whether  I  consented 
that  endeavors  should  be  made  to  procure  me  credentials 
to  treat  with  the  Princess  of  Orange,  at  Nimeguen.  If 
deception  might  be  productive  of  anything,  I  should  have 
imagined  he  only  wished  to  induce  me  to  speak ;  but  the 
question  was  accompanied  with  so  many  circumstances, 
all  true  and  sincere,  so  many  confidential  communica- 
tions of  every  kind,  and  a  series  of  anecdotes  so  rational 
and  so  decisive,  that,  though  I  might  find  it  difficult  to 
account  for  the  whim  he  had  taken,  I  could  not  possibly 
doubt  of  the  candor  of  the  envoy.  After  this  first  con- 
sideration, I  hesitated  whether  I  should  mention  the  af- 
fair to  you,  from  a  fear  that  the  presumption  should  be 
imputed  to  me  of  endeavoring  to  rival  M.  de  Renneval; 
but,  besides  that  my  cipher  will  pass  under  the  inspec- 
tion of  my  prudent  friend,  before  it  will  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  King  or  his  Ministers,  and  that  I  shall 
thus  be  certain  he  will  erase  whatever  might  injure  me 
to  no  purpose,  I  have  imagined  it  was  not  a  part  of  my 
duty  to  pass  over  a  proposition  of  so  singular  a  kind  in 
silence.  I  ought  to  add  further,  referring  to  the  ample 
details  which  I  shall  give,  after  the  long  conference 
which  I  am  to  have  with  him  to-morrow  morning,  that, 
if  France  has  no  latent  intention,  and  means  only 
to  weaken  the  Stadtholder,  in  such  a  manner  as  that  his 
influence  cannot  hereafter  be  of  service  to  the  English, 
the  patriots  are  by  no  means  so  simple  in  their  inten- 
tions. I  have  proofs  that,  from  the  year  1784  to  the  end 
of  1785,  they  were  in  secret  correspondence  with  Baron 
Reede;  and  that  they  ceased  precisely  at  the  moment 
when  the  Baron  wrote  to  them :  <(  Make  your  proposals ; 
I  have  a  carte  blanche  from  the  Princess,  and,  on  this 
condition,  the  King  of  Prussia  will  answer  for  the 
Prince."  I  have  also  proofs  that  M.  de  Renneval  cannot 
succeed,  and  that  the  affair  will  never  be  brought  to  a 


3io  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

conclusion,  *  so  long  as  negotiation  shall  be  continued 
instead  of  arbitration.*  These  are  his  words,  and  they 
appear  to  me  remarkable.  It  is  equally  evident  that 
the  implacable  vengeance  of  the  Due  de  la  Vauguyon 
arises  from  his  having  dared  to  make  love  to  the  Prin- 
cess, and  his  love  having  been  rejected.  I  shall  leave 
those  who  are  able  to  judge  of  the  veracity  of  these  al- 
legations; but  it  is  my  duty  to  repeat  verbally  the  fol- 
lowing phrase  of  Baron  Reede :  <(  M.  de  Calonne  is  inimical 
to  us,  and  his  enemy  opens  his  arms  to  receive  us. 
What  is  it  that  M.  de  Calonne  wishes  ?  Is  it  to  be  Minis- 
ter of  Foreign  Affairs  ?  A  successful  pacification  of  the 
troubles  of  Holland  would  render  him  more  service,  in 
such  case,  than  the  continuation  of  those  troubles,  which 
may  kindle  a  general  conflagration.  I  demand  a  cate- 
gorical answer  to  the  following  question:  Should  it  be 
proved  to  M.  de  Calonne  that  the  Stadtholder  is  in  real- 
ity come  over  to  the  side  of  France,  or,  which  is  the 
same  thing,  if  he  shall  be  obliged  to  come  over,  will  he 
then  be  against  us  ?  Has  he  any  private  interest  which 
we  counteract  ?  Is  it  impossible  he  should  explain  him- 
self ?  The  chances  certainly  are  all  in  his  favor  against 
M.  de  Breteuil,  whom  we  have  continually  hated  and 
despised.  Wherefore  will  he  spoil  his  own  game." 

I  necessarily  answered  these  questions  in  terms  rather 
vague.  I  informed  him  that  M.  de  Calonne,  in  what  re- 
lated to  foreign  affairs,  continually  pursued  the  line 
marked  out  by  M.  de  Vergennes;  that  the  former,  far 
from  coveting  the  place  of  the  latter,  would  support  him 
with  all  his  power,  if,  which  could  not  happen,  he  had 
need  of  his  support;  that  a  comptroller-general  never 
could  be  desirous  of  anything  but  peace  and  political 
tranquillity ;  that  whether  M.  de  Calonne  had  or  had  not 
particular  agents  in  Holland,  was  a  fact  of  which  I  was 
ignorant  (this  Baron  Reede  positively  assured  me  was 
the  case,  and  probably  was  the  reason  of  his  afterward 
conceiving  the  idea  of  making  me  their  substitute) ;  but 
that  he  would  suppose  me  a  madman,  should  I  speak  to 
him  of  such  a  thing;  and  therefore  if,  as  seemed  very 
improbable,  it  were  true  that  the  Princess  of  Orange,  on 
the  recommendation  of  Baron  Reede,  should  be  capable  of 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  311 

placing  any  confidence  in  me,  it  was  necessary  she 
should  give  this  to  be  understood,  through  some  medium 
with  which  I  should  be  unacquainted,  as,  for  example, 
by  the  way  of  Prussia ;  but  it  scarcely  could  be  supposed 
that  there  would  be  any  wish  of  substituting  a  person 
unknown  in  that  walk  to  those  who  were  already  in  the 
highest  repute. 

Baron  Reede  persisted,  and  further  added,  not  to  men- 
tion that  M.  de  Renneval  could  not  long  remain  in  his 
station,  the  parties  would  undoubtedly  come  to  a  better 
understanding  when  the  Princess  could  speak  with  confi- 
dence; that  confidence  was  a  sensation  which  she  never 
could  feel  for  this  negotiator.  In  fine,  he  demanded, 
under  the  seal  of  profound  secrecy,  a  conference  with  me, 
which  I  did  not  think  it  would  be  right  to  refuse ;  and  his 
whole  conversation  perfectly  demonstrated  two  things: 
the  first,  that  his  party  supposes  M.  de  Calonne  is  totally 
their  enemy,  and  that  he  is  the  Minister  of  influence  in 
this  political  conflict;  and  the  second,  that  they  believed 
him  to  be  deceived.  I  am  the  more  persuaded  these  sup- 
positions are  true,  because  he  very  strongly  insisted  even 
should  I  not  receive  any  orders  to  repair  to  Holland,  I 
should  pass  through  Nimeguen,  on  my  return  to  Paris; 
that,  by  the  aid  of  the  pledges  of  confidence  which  I 
should  receive  from  him,  I  might  sufficiently  penetrate 
the  thoughts  of  the  Princess,  so  as  to  be  able  to  render 
M.  de  Calonne  a  true  report  of  the  situation  of  affairs, 
and  what  might  be  the  basis  of  a  sincere  and  stable  con- 
ciliation. It  is  not,  therefore,  so  much  another  person, 
instead  of  M.  de  Renneval,  that  they  desire,  as  another 
Couette  Toury,  or  some  particular  confidant  of  M.  de 
Calonne.  I  shall  conclude  with  two  remarks  that  are 
perhaps  important. 

i.  My  sentiments  and  principles  concerning  liberty 
are  so  known  that  I  cannot  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
Orange  party.  There  is,  therefore  a  real  desire  of  ac- 
commodation at  Nimeguen.  And  would  not  the  success 
of  this  accommodation  be  of  greater  consequence  to  M. 
de  Calonne  than  the  machinations  of  M.  de  Breteuil? 
Wherefore  will  he  not  have  the  merit  of  the  pacifica- 
tion, if  it  be  necessary?  And  is  it  not  in  a  certain 


3i2  SECRET    COURT   MEMOIRS 

degree  necessary,  in  the  present  political  state  of  Eu- 
rope? 

2.  The  province  of  Friseland  has  ever  been  of  the 
Anti-Stadtholder  party,  and  it  now  begins  to  be  on  bet- 
ter terms  with  the  Prince.  Is  it  not  because  there  has 
been  the  ill  address  of  attacking  the  Stadtholder  in  some 
part  hostile  to  the  provinces,  and  in  which  neither  the 
nobility  nor  the  regencies  do,  or  can,  wish  to  see  the 
Constitution  absolutely  overthrown?  Has  not  the  pro- 
vince of  Holland  drawn  others  too  far  into  its  particular 
measures? 

These  two  considerations,  which  I  can  support  by  a 
number  of  corroborating  circumstances,  perhaps  are 
worthy  the  trouble  of  being  weighed.  I  shall  send  you, 
by  the  next  courier,  the  result  of  our  conference;  but, 
if  there  are  any  orders,  information  or  directions,  to  be 
given  me  on  the  subject,  it  is  necessary  not  to  leave  me 
in  suspense;  for  my  situation  relative  to  Reede  is  embar- 
rassing, since  I  dare  neither  to  repel  nor  invite  advances, 
which  most  assuredly  I  never  shall  provoke,  and  which, 
by  the  well-avowed  state  of  the  Cabinet  of  Potsdam,  it 
was  even  impossible  I  should  provoke,  had  I  been  pos- 
sessed of  so  much  temerity. 

Nolde"  has  already  written  several  letters  to  me  from 
Courland,  and  mentions  an  important  dispatch  in  cipher, 
which  is  to  be  sent  by  the  next  courier.  But  the 
evident  result  is  that  it  is  too  late  to  save  Courland; 
that  everything  which  ought  to  have  been  prevented  is 
done,  or  as  good  as  done,  and  that  the  best  physicians 
would  but  lose  their  time  in  prescribing  for  the  incur- 
able. The  bearer  of  the  letter,  which  occasioned  the 
departure  of  Nolde"  is  a  merchant  of  Liebau,  named 
Immermann.  He  has  been  charged  with  the  negotiation 
of  a  loan  in  Holland  and  elsewhere,  but,  as  it  is  said, 
has  met  with  no  success.  It  is  supposed  in  the  country 
that  the  Duke  has  thrown  impediments  in  its  way.  The 
Diet  of  Courland  is  to  sit  in  January.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that,  for  two  years  past,  no  delegate  has  been 
sent  from  Courland  to  Warsaw. 

Good  information  is  said  to  be  received  that  four  corps 
of  Russian  troops  have  begun  their  march,  purposely  to 


THE   COURT   OF  BERLIN  313 

approach  the  Crimea  at  the  time  that  the  Empress  shall 
be  there ;  and  this  not  so  much  to  inspire  the  Turks  with 
fear,  as  to  remove  the  greatest  and  most  formidable  part 
of  the  military  from  the  vicinage  of  Petersburg  and  the 
northern  provinces  of  Russia;  and  especially  from  the 
Grand  Duke,  that  there  may  not  be  any  possibility  of 
dangerous  or  vexatious  events;  for  the  unbounded  love 
of  the  Russians  for  their  Grand  Duke  is  apprehended. 
Yet,  if  such  terrors  are  felt,  wherefore  undertake  so 
useless  a  journey,  which  will  cost  from  seven  to  eight 
millions  of  rubles  ?  So  useless,  I  say,  according  to  your 
opinions,  for,  according  to  mine,  the  Empress  believes 
she  is  going  to  Constantinople,  or  she  does  not  intend  to 
depart. 

The  troops  are  to  be  divided  into  four  corps,  of  forty 
thousand  men  each.  The  General  of  these  armies  will 
be  Field- Marshal  Potemkin,  who  will  have  the  immediate 
command  of  a  corps  of  forty  thousand  men,  and  the 
superintendence  of  the  others  who  are  under  him,  to  be 
led  by  General  Elvut,  Michaelssohn,  and  Soltikow. 
Prince  Potemkin  has  under  his  particular  and  independent 
orders  sixty  thousand  irregular  troops  in  the  Crimea.  It 
is  whispered  he  entertains  the  project  of  making  himself 
King  of  the  country,  and  of  a  good  part  of  the  Ukraine. 


LETTER   LXII. 

January  4th,  1787. 

MY  CONFERENCE  with  Baron  Reede  is  over.  It  con- 
tinued three  hours  and  a  half,  and  I  have  not  the 
smallest  remaining  doubt  concerning  his  intentions, 
after  the  confidence  with  which  he  spoke  and  the  writings 
he  showed  me.  He  appears  to  be  a  good  citizen,  a  con- 
stitutionalist by  principle,  a  friend  of  liberty  by  instinct, 
loyal  and  true  from  character  and  habit,  and  rather  the 
servant  of  the  Princess  of  Orange  from  personal  affec- 
tion than  from  the  place  he  holds  under  her  husband;  a 
person  desirous  of  ending  tumultuous  and  disquieting  de- 
bates, because  in  pacification  he  contemplates  the  good 
of  his  country,  and  that  of  the  Princess,  whose  con- 
fidence he  possesses.  He  is,  further,  a  Minister  of  pass- 
able talents,  who  has  abstained  from  making  advances 
so  long  as  he  presumed  our  political  management  of  the 
Court  of  Prussia  would  greatly  influence  its  intervention, 
and  that  he  might  prevail  on  that  Court  to  speak  firmly. 
At  present,  feeling  that  the  respect  in  which  the  Cabinet 
of  Berlin  was  held  is  on  the  decline,  and  especially  per- 
ceiving the  King  is  disinterested  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Stadtholder,  because  he  has  no  interest  in  anything,  he 
knocks  immediately  at  the  door  of  reconciliation. 
You  may  hold  the  following  as  probabilities: 

1.  That   the    Princess,    who    will    finally    decide    what 
the  catastrophe  is  to  be,  at  least  in  a  very   great  meas- 
ure, is,  to  a  certain  point,  desirous  of  accommodation,  and 
to  throw  herself   into   the    arms    of   France,    because,    in 
fine,  she  dreads  risking  a  stake  too  great,  to  the  injury 
of  her  family. 

2.  That    she  imagines   M.  de  Calonne  to  be  the  Minis- 
ter who  influences  the   mind  of   the    King,  and    the  per- 
sonal enemy  of  her  house. 

3.  That    successful   attempts    have   been   made    to    in- 
spire her  with  very  strong  prejudices  against  his  sincerity. 

(3H) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  315 

4.  That    still    she   seeks    his   friendship,    and   is   desir- 
ous of   a  correspondence   with  him,  either  direct   or  in- 
direct ;  and  of  an  impartial  trusty  friend  in  Holland,  who 
should  possess  her  confidence. 

5.  That  not  only  nothing  is  more  possible    than  to  re- 
touch   the    regulations,    without    some    modifications    in 
which    the    influence    of   the    Stadtholder   cannot   be   re- 
pressed, but  that  this  is  what  they  expect,  secretly  con- 
vinced of  its  justice,  and  politically  of  its  necessity;  and 
that  Baron  Reede,  as   a   citizen,  and   one  of  the   first  of 
the  first  rank,  would  be  much  vexed  were  they   not   re- 
touched. 

The  reason  of  the  sincere  return  of  the  Princess  of 
Orange,  who  indeed  was  never  entirely  alienated,  is  that 
she  seriously  despairs  of  being  efficaciously  served  at 
Berlin. 

That  of  her  opinion  of  the  enmity  of  M.  de  Calonne  is 
solely  founded  on  his  intimate  connection  with  the 
Rhingrave  of  Salm,  which  the  latter  exaggerates;  and 

the  inconsiderate  discourse  of  M.  de  C ,  which  really 

surpasses  all  imagination,  and  who  is  supposed  to  be  the 
particular  intimate  of  the  Minister. 

Her  prejudices  against  M.  de  Calonne  arise,  in  a  great 
part,  from  the  calumny  spread  by  one  Vandermey,  who 
had  formed  I  know  not  what  enterprise  on  Bergue- 
Saint-Vinox  (while  this  Minister  was  intendant  of  the 
province),  in  which  he  failed  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
cost  the  Stadtholder  more  than  a  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  florins;  and,  that  he  might  excuse  himself,  he 
threw  the  whole  blame  on  the  opposition  made  by  M.  de 
Calonne.  Add  further,  that  all  these  causes  of  discon- 
tent, suspicion,  and  animosity  are  still  kept  in  fermen- 
tation by  a  M.  de  Portail,  the  creature  of  M.  de 
Breteuil,  the  which  M.  de  Portail  equally  blames  M.  de 

Veyrac,  M.  de  C ,  the  Rhingrave  of  Salm,  M.  de 

Renneval,  the  Comte  de  Vergennes,  and  all  that  has 
been  done,  all  that  is  done,  and  all  that  shall  be  done; 
but  especially  M.  de  Calonne,  whom  he  depicts  as  the 
incendiary  of  the  Seven  Provinces,  which,  with  all 
Europe  besides,  cannot  be  saved  but  by  the  meekness 
of  M.  de  Breteuil,  the  gentle,  the  polished,  the  pacificator. 


316  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

With  respect  to  the  desire  of  the  Princess  to  be  on 
better  terms  with  M.  de  Calonne,  it  is,  I  think,  evident. 
Baron  Reede  is  too  circumspect  and  too  artful  to  have 
taken  such  a  step  with  me  had  he  not  been  authorized. 
What  follows  will,  perhaps,  give  you  the  genealogy  of 
his  ideas,  which  may  sufficiently  explain  the  whole  epi- 
sode. He  could  easily  know  that  I  wrote  in  cipher.  He 
is  the  intimate  friend  of  Hertzberg.  And  for  whom  do 
I  cipher?  Whoever  is  acquainted  with  the  coast  and  the 
progress  of  our  affairs  must  know  it  can  only  be  for  M. 
de  Calonne.  On  what  principle  do  I  act?  The  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  who  has  had  many  conferences  with  him, 
cannot  have  left  him  in  ignorance  that  my  views  on  this 
subject  were  all  for  peace.  Having  been  totally  disap- 
pointed through  the  ignorance  of  Comte  d'Esterno,  which 
he  affirms  is  complete  in  this  respect,  and  which 
must,  therefore,  on  this  subject,  redouble  the  native 

surliness  of  the  Count;  and  by  the  stupidity  of  F , 

who  painfully  comes  to  study  his  lesson  with  him,  and 
returning  does  not  always  repeat  it  faithfully;  well  con- 
vinced that  the  influence  of  Count  Hertzberg  is  null,  the 
affection  of  the  King  cooled,  and  the  credit  of  his  Cabi- 
net trifling,  the  Baron  has  proposed  to  the  Princess  to 
make  this  experiment. 

With  respect  to  her  consent,  whether  express  or  tacit, 
and  her  serious  determination  to  retouch  the  regulations, 
of  this  I  have  seen  proofs  in  the  letters  of  the  Princess, 
and  read  them  in  the  cipher  of  the  Princess  (for  it  will 
be  well  to  know  that  she  is  very  laborious,  ciphers  and 
deciphers  herself,  and  with  her  own  hand  indites  answers 
to  all  the  writings  of  the  contrary  party),  as  I  have  done 
in  those  of  Larrey  and  of  Linden. 

I  did  not  think  myself  justified  in  disregarding  such 
overtures.  After  having  said  everything  possible  in  favor 
of  M.  de  Calonne,  his  views,  projects,  and  connections 
(nor,  I  confess,  do  I  believe  that  the  manner  in  which  I 
am  devoted  to  him  left  me  at  this  moment  without 
address),  after  having  treated  as  I  ought  the  perfidious 
duplicity  of  M.  de  Breteuil  and  his  agents,  and  after 
having  uttered  what  I  thought  on  the  prudence  of  M.  de 
Vergennes,  the  delicate  probity  of  the  King,  and  the 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  317 

undoubted  politics  of  our  Cabinet,  which  certainly  are  to 
render  the  Stadtholder  subservient  to  the  public  good,  and 
the  independence  of  the  United  Provinces,  but  which 
cannot  be  to  procure  his  expulsion,  it  was  agreed  that  I 
should  write  the  day  after  to-morrow  to  demand  a  cate- 
gorical answer  from  M.  de  Calonne,  to  know  whether  he 
wishes  to  begin  a  correspondence,  direct  or  indirect,  with 
the  Princess;  and  whether  he  consents  that  any  proposi- 
tions for  accommodation  should  be  made  him,  for  render- 
ing which  effectual  his  personal  word  should  be  accepted, 
when  they  shall  be  agreed  on,  and  to  an  honorable 
pacification  in  behalf  of  the  Stadtholder,  suitable  to  the 
Sovereign. 

Baron  Reede,  on  his  part,  who  is  cautious,  and  wished 
to  appear  to  act  totally  from  himself,  wrote  to  the 
Princess  to  inform  her  that  this  step  was  taken  at  his 
instigation,  and  to  demand  her  prompt  and  formal  author- 
ity to  act.  We  are  to  meet  to-morrow  on  horseback  in 
the  park  that  we  may  reciprocally  show  each  other  our 
minutes;  it  being  certainly  well  understood  that  neither 
of  us  is  to  show  the  other  more  than  the  ostensible  min- 
utes we  shall  have  prepared;  and  the  whole  is  to  depart 
on  Saturday;  because,  said  he,  as  not  more  than  twelve 
or  thirteen  days  were  necessary  for  him  to  have  an 
answer,  this  would  be  time  enough,  before  yours  should 
arrive,  for  us  to  form  the  proposed  plan  —  at  least,  so  far 
as  to  establish  confidence. 

This  is  the  faithful  abstract  of  our  conversation.  With 
respect  to  the  propositions,  I  had  only  to  listen;  and  as 
to  the  reflections,  I  have  only  to  apologize.  Should  you 
be  tempted  to  suppose  I  have  been  too  forward  in  ac- 
cepting the  proposal  to  write,  I  beg  the  incident  may  be 
weighed,  and  that  I  may  be  informed  how  it  may  be 
possible,  at  the  distance  of  six  hundred  leagues,  ever  to 
be  successful,  if  I  am  never  to  exceed  my  literal  instruc- 
tions. And  after  all,  what  new  information  have  I  given 
the  Baron  ?  Who  here,  who  is  concerned  in  diplomatic 
affairs,  has  any  doubt  that  I  cipher?  And  on  what  sub- 
jects do  men  cipher?  Is  it  philosophy,  literature,  or 
politics  ?  Neither  have  I  told  of  what  kind  my  business 
is;  and  my  constant  formulae  have  been  —  I  SHALL 


3i8  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

ENDEAVOR I    SHALL    FIND     SOME     MODE I    SHALL    TAKE    AN 

OPPORTUNITY    OF    LETTING    M.     DE    CALONNE    KNOW,    ETC. 

At  present,  send  me  orders  either  to  recede  or  to 
advance ;  and  in  the  latter  case  give  me  instructions ;  for 
I  have  only  hitherto  been  able  to  divine,  and  that  the 
more  vaguely  because,  as  you  must  easily  feel,  it  was 
necessary  I  should  appear  to  the  Baron  to  be  better  in- 
formed than  I  really  am,  and  consequently  to  ask  fewer 
questions  than  I  should  otherwise  have  done.  Ask  yourself 
what  advantages  might  I  not  obtain,  were  1  not  obliged 
to  have  recourse  entirely  to  my  own  poor  stock. 

In  brief,  what  pledges  do  you  desire  of  the  sincerity 
of  the  Princess  ?  What  proofs  of  friendship  will  you 
afford  her  ?  What  precaution  do  you  require  for  the 
good  conduct  of  the  Stadtholder  ?  What  kind  of  restraints 
do  you  mean  to  lay  him  under  ?  Will  you  in  nothing 
depart  from  what  was  stipulated  in  the  commission  of 
the  zyth  of  February,  1766?  What  are  the  modifications 
you  propose  ?  Must  mediation  be  necessarily  and  form- 
ally accepted  ?  Is  it  not  previously  requisite  that  the 
provinces  of  Guelderland  and  Utrecht  should  send  their 
troops  into  their  respective  quarters  ?  Will  the  province 
of  Holland  then  narrow  her  military  line  ?  In  this  sup- 
position, is  there  nothing  to  be  feared  from  the  Free 
Corps  ?  and  how  may  she  answer  for  them  ?  What  will 
be  the  determinate  constitutional  functions  of  the  Stadt- 
holder ?  What  the  relations  of  subordination  and  influence 
toward  the  deputy  counselors  ?  What  is  the  reformation 
intended  to  be  made  in  the  regulations  ? 

These,  and  a  thousand  other  particulars,  are  of  conse- 
quence to  me,  if  I  am  to  be  of  any  service  in  the  busi- 
ness; otherwise  I  need  none  of  them.  But  it  is  to  me 
indispensable  that  you  should  immediately  and  precisely 
inform  me  how  I  ought  to  act  and  speak,  how  far  I  am 
to  go,  and  where  to  stop. 

Be  kind  enough  to  observe  that  it  is  requisite  this  step 
should  be  kept  entirely  secret  from  Comte  d'Esterno,  and 
that  the  intentions  and  proceedings  of  Baron  Reede  cer- 
tainly do  not  merit  that  the  Baron  should  be  betrayed. 

A  curious  and  very  remarkable  fact  is  that  the  Duke 
of  Brunswick  was  the  first  who  spoke  to  Baron  Reede  of 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  319 

the  Prussian  troops  being  put  in  motion,  and  asked  him 
what  effect  he  imagined  it  would  have  on  the  affairs  of 
Holland  if  some  regiments  of  cavalry  were  marched  into, 
and  should  it  be  needful,  if  a  camp  were  formed  in,  the 
principality  of  Cleves,  which  might  be  called  a  camp  of 
pleasure.  Baron  Reede  replied  this  was  a  very  delicate 
step,  and  it  was  scarcely  possible  the  Cabinet  of  Versailles 
could  remain  an  unconcerned  spectator.  Does  the  Duke 
desire  to  be  Prime  Minister,  be  the  event  what  it  may  ? 
And  has  he  unworthily  deceived  me  ?  Or  was  it  only 
his  intention  to  acquire  from  Baron  Reede  such  in- 
formation as  might  aid  him  to  combat  the  proposition 
of  Count  Hertzberg  ?  The  Dutch  Ambassador  wished  to 
persuade  me  of  the  first.  I  imagine  he  is  sincere;  yet, 
to  own  the  truth,  the  public  would  echo  his  opinion,  for 
the  Duke  is  in  high  renown  for  deceit.  But  here  I  ought 
to  oppose  the  testimony  of  Count  Hertzberg  himself,  who 
owned  that  the  idea  was  his  own,  and  who  bitterly 
repeated,  more  than  once,  *  Ah !  had  not  the  Duke 
deserted  me!  w  It  is  necessary  to  have  heard  the  ex- 
pression and  the  accent  to  form  any  positive  opinion  on 
the  subject,  which  to  a  certain  point  may  be  warranted. 

January  5th. 

I  found  Baron  Reede  at  the  rendezvous,  in  the  same 
temper  of  mind;  and,  if  possible,  more  fervent,  more 
zealous.  The  only  delicacy  in  acting  he  required  was 
that  I  should  not  say  he  had  written;  in  order,  as  he 
observed,  that,  should  these  advances  still  fail  in  their 
effect,  a  greater  animosity  might  not  be  the  result.  He 
related  to  me  an  example  of  this  kind,  concerning  the 
success  of  a  confidential  proceeding  which  happened, 
some  years  ago,  between  himself  and  M.  de  Gaussin,  at 
that  time  chargt  d'  affaires  from  France  to  Berlin,  and 
who,  having  described  the  business  in  terms  too  ardent 
to  be  accurate,  receives  a  ministerial  answer  from  M.  de 
Vergennes,  of  the  most  kind  and  amicable  complexion, 
which,  passing  directly  to  the  Stadtholder,  through  the 
medium  of  the  Cabinet  of  Berlin,  was  by  no  means 
found  acceptable,  as  it  might  reasonably  have  been 
supposed  it  would  have  been;  and  that  this  produced  an 


320  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

additional  degree  of  coldness.  True  it  is  that  the 
Prince  of  Orange  had  not,  at  that  time,  experienced  the 
strength  of  his  opponents;  but  this  Prince  is  so  pas- 
sionate, and  his  mind  is  so  perverse,  that  the  Princess 
herself  is  obliged  to  take  the  utmost  precautions  when 
she  has  anything  to  communicate. 

I  promised  Baron  Reede  to  act  entirely  as  he  wished; 
yet  have  not  thought  it  the  less  my  duty  to  relate  the 
whole  affair,  well  convinced  that  people  only  of  very 
narrow  minds  pique  themselves  on  their  policy;  that  M. 
de  Calonne  will  think  proper  to  know  nothing  of  all  this, 
except  just  as  much  as  he  ought  to  know;  that  in  any 
case  he  will  seem  only  to  regard  this  overture  as  the 
simple  attempt  of  two  zealous  men,  who  communicated 
a  project  which  they  supposed  was  most  probable  of 
success.  In  reality,  though  it  may  be  the  most  pressing 
interest  of  the  Stadtholder  to  obtain  peace,  how  can  our 
alliance  with  Holland  be  more  effectually  strengthened 
than  by  the  concurrence  of  the  Stadtholder  ?  And  with 
respect  to  the  individual  interests  of  M.  de  Calonne, 
should  we  happen  to  lose  M.  de  Vergennes,  through  age 
or  ill  health,  who  is  there  capable  of  disputing  the  place 
with  him,  who  shall  have  promoted  the  commercial  treaty 
between  France  and  England,  and  have  accomplished  the 
pacification  of  Holland  ?  Enough  at  present  concerning 
the  business  in  which  I  am  engaged.  Let  us  return  to 
Prussia. 

January  6th. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Goltz  has  long  been  on  cold  terms, 
and  even  has  quarreled,  with  Bishopswerder.  They  had 
once  been  reconciled  by  the  King,  who  felt  that  the 
first,  being  more  firm  of  character,  and  more  enterprising, 
had  great  advantages  in  the  execution  of  affairs  over  the 
other,  who  was  more  the  courtier,  and  more  the  humble 
servant  of  circumstances.  To  avoid  domestic  scandal,  he 
has  appointed  M.  von  Hanstein,  who  possesses  dignity, 
or  rather  haughtiness,  and  M.  von  Pritwitz,  a  man  of 
mediocrity,  and  a  victim  to  the  caprices  of  the  late 
King,  to  be  general  aids-de-camp.  Thus  Bishopswerder, 
after  he  has  done  everything  in  his  power  to  remove  all 


THE   COURT  OF  BERLIN  321 

who  had  more  understanding  than  himself  from  about 
the  person  of  the  King,  having  accomplished  his  pur- 
pose and  secured  the  Monarch  solely  to  himself,  knows 
not  what  he  shall  do  with  him. 

Count  Briihl  has  found  neither  arrangements  ready 
prepared,  apartments  furnished,  nor  persons  placed  in  the 
service  of  the  Prince  Royal.  The  consequences  were  —  ill- 
humor,  a  visit  to  Welner,  not  admitted,  visit  returned 
late,  and  by  a  card,  rising  discontent,  which  is  encouraged 
by  Bishopswerder,  who  suspects  Welner  to  have  been 
softened  concerning  the  nomination  of  the  two  general 
aids-de-camp. 

A  fact  which  appears  very  probable  is  that  Welner, 
who  is  christened  by  the  people  The  Little  King,  knows 
not  how  to  perform  three  offices  at  once ;  and,  as  he  fool- 
ishly believed  he  might  yield  to  the  eagerness  of  specu- 
lators, and  has  had  the  meanness  to  enjoy  the  despicable 
flatteries  of  those  who  six  months  ago  treated  him  like  a 
lackey,  his  days  have  glided  away  in  these  perilous  pas- 
times of  vanity.  Business  has  been  neglected,  every- 
thing is  in  arrear,  and  it  is  presumed  that,  when  he  shall 
have  been  sufficiently  bandied  by  the  intrigues  of  the 
malcontents,  the  ingratitude  of  those  whom  he  shall  have 
served,  the  arts  of  courtiers,  and  the  snares  of  his  own 
subalterns,  his  brain  will  be  entirely  turned. 

It  is  at  length  determined  the  capitation  tax  shall  not 
be  enforced.  Thus  it  is  withdrawn  after  having  been  an- 
nounced! Without  conviction!  Without  a  substitute! 
What  confusion!  What  forebodings!  From  the  short 
prospect  of  the  morning  of  the  reign,  how  portentous  are 
the  steps  of  futurity! 

The  sending  an  envoy  to  London ;  which  Court  has  not 
yet  returned  the  compliment. 

Another  envoy  sent  to  Holland,  who,  in  every  step  he 
has  taken,  has  risked  the  reputation  of  his  Sovereign.  It 
certainly  was  necessary  either  to  act  consistently,  or 
totally  to  abstain  from  acting. 

The  commission  of  inquiry  on  the  administration  of 
the  finances,  which  has  been  productive  of  nothing  but 
injustice  and  rigor  toward  individuals,  without  the  least 
advantage  to  the  public. 


322  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

Another  commission  to  examine  the  conduct  of  General 
Wartenberg,  appointed  with  ostentation,  and  suspended 
in  silence. 

The  suppression  of  the  administration  of  tobacco  and 
snuff,  which  must  be  continued. 

The  project  of  the  capitation  tax,  which  is  obliged  to 
be  withdrawn  at  the  very  moment  it  was  to  com- 
mence. 

The  convocation  of  the  principal  merchants  of  Prussia 
and  Silesia,  which  has  generated  nothing  but  discussion, 
such  as  are  proper  to  unveil  the  absurdity  of  the  rulers, 
and  the  wretchedness  of  the  people. 

Do  not  so  many  false  steps,  so  many  recedings,  sup- 
pose administrators  who  have  reflected  but  little,  who 
are  groping  in  the  dark,  and  who  are  ignorant  of  the 
elements  of  the  science  of  governing  ? 

Amid  this  series  of  follies,  we  must  nevertheless  remark 
a  good  operation,  which  is  truly  beneficial.  I  speak  of 
the  at  present  unlimited  corn  trade,  and  an  annual 
exemption  in  behalf  of  that  miserable  Western  Prussia, 
the  amount  of  which  I  do  not  yet  know.  The  domestic 
fermentation  of  the  palace  begins  to  be  so  great  that  it 
must  soon  become  public.  The  agent  of  the  wishes,  or, 
more  properly  speaking,  of  the  secret  whims,  is  in  opposi- 
tion to  Bishopswerder  and  Welner,  who  are  on  cold  terms 
with  Mademoiselle  Voss,  who  is  desirious  that  Madame 
Rietz  should  be  discarded,  who  will  agree  that  Mademoi- 
selle Voss  should  be  a  rich  mistress  but  not  a  wife. 
Among  this  multitude  of  opposing  wills,  where  each, 
except  the  King,  acts  for  himself,  we  may  enumer- 
ate his  Majesty's  chamberlain,  and  the  counselor  of 
Mademoiselle  Voss,  Reuss;  and  the  pacificator,  the  medi- 
ator, the  counselor,  the  temporizer,  the  preacher,  Count 
Arnim. 

The  Sovereign,  amid  these  rising  revolts,  weathers  the 
Storm  to  the  best  of  his  abilities.  The  jeweler  Botson 
has  laid  a  complaint  against  Rietz,  which  occasioned  a 
quarrel  that  might  have  had  consequences,  had  not  the 
King  recollected  that  ten  years  might  be  necessary  to 
replace  a  confidant  whom  he  might  have  discharged  in  a 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  323 

moment  of  anger.  The  birthday  of  the  Count  of  Bran- 
denburg was  likewise  a  circumstance  which  the  Rietz 
party  made  subservient  to  their  interest.  His  Majesty 
sent  for  the  mother  to  dinner,  and  peace  was  the  restorer 
of  serenity. 

The  master  of  the  horse,  who  was  said  to  have  lost 
his  credit,  appears  to  have  risen  from  the  dead.  Exclu- 
sive of  his  yellow  ribbon,  which  he  hung  over  his  shoul- 
ders on  the  last  Court  day,  and  which  excited  bursts  of 
laughter  from  everybody,  even  from  the  Ministers,  he  re- 
quested his  nephew  might  be  created  a  count,  and  was 
answered  with  a  (<So  be  it.*  The  creating  of  a  count 
is  but  a  trifling  evil,  especially  when  so  many  have  been 
created;  but  never  to  possess  a  will  of  one's  own  is  a 
serious  reflection. 

Would  you  wish  for  a  picture  of  the  sinews  of  Govern- 
ment, and  active  facilities  of  the  Governors?  Take  the 
following  feature: 

Various  remonstrances  had  been  made  to  the  King- 
finally  to  regulate  the  state  of  expenditure,  and  the 
salaries  of  his  officers.  He  replied  that  he  intended  to 
keep  a  Court ;  and  that,  in  order  to  regulate  his  expenses, 
he  first  desired  to  know  the  permanent  state  of  his 
revenues,  according  as  they  should  be  collected  and  as- 
certained by  his  new  financiers.  After  reflecting  on 
various  phrases,  in  all  of  which  was  repeated  the  word 
ASCERTAINED,  the  Ministers,  under  whose  charge  the  excise 
and  the  daily  expenditure  were,  began  to  have  their  ap- 
prehensions. Hence  followed  a  multitude  of  trifling 
taxes,  ridiculous,  hateful,  and  unproductive,  which  sprang 
up  in  a  single  night.  Oysters,  cards,  and  an  increase  on 
the  postage  of  letters,  on  stamps,  on  wines,  eight  groschen 
per  ell  on  taffetas,  thirty-three  per  cent  on  furs. 
They  even  went  so  far  as  to  suppress  the  franchises  of 
the  Princes  of  the  household.  Not  one  of  these  new 
imposts  but  was  most  gratuitously  odious;  for  they 
retard  what  they  are  meant  to  effect,  and  are  produc- 
tive of  nothing  but  a  demonstration  of  the  heavy  stupid- 
ity of  those  who  neither  can  procure  money  nor  satisfy 
the  public. 


324  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

POSTSCRIPT. —  I  have  received  a  voluminous  dispatch  in 
cipher  from  Courland,  the  contents  of  which  it  is  im- 
possible I  should  at  present  send.  I  can  only  confirm 
former  intelligence,  that  the  chamberlain  Howen,  who  is 
at  present  Burgrave,  disposes  of  the  province,  and  is 
wholly  Russian;  the  circumstances  by  the  next  courier. 


LETTER   LXIII. 

January  8th,  1787. 

THE  following  is  the  substance  of  the  news  from  Cour- 
land,  as  authentic  as  can  possibly  be  procured. 

The  chamberlain  Howen,  an  able  man,  the  first 
and  the  only  person  of  understanding  in  the  country  (for 
the  chancellor  Taube',  who  might  otherwise  counterpoise 
his  influence,  is  destitute  of  mind  and  character) ;  Howen, 
I  say,  is  become  Ober  Burgrave,  by  the  sudden  death 
of  the  Prime  Minister,  Klopman.  After  this  event  fol- 
lowed a  torrent  of  re-placings  and  de-placings,  in  none 
of  which  you  are  interested,  and  concerning  which  it  will 
be  sufficient  for  you  to  know  that  every  recommendation 
of  the  Duke  has  been  absolutely  rejected  and  contemned. 
The  Baron  of  Mest-Machor,  the  Russian  envoy  by  a  formal 
and  direct  recommendation,  occasioned  the  election  to 
alight  on  Howen,  who  once  was  the  violent  enemy  of 
the  Russians,  by  whom  he  had  been  carried  off  from 
Warsaw,  where  he  resided  as  envoy  from  Courland,  and 
banished  into  Siberia.  Here  he  remained  several  years. 
By  a  concurrence  of  circumstances  he  is  become  Russian. 
It  appears  that  the  Cabinet  of  Petersburg  has  preferred 
the  gaining  of  its  purpose  by  gentle  measures,  and  in- 
tends amicably  to  accomplish  all  its  designs  on  Courland. 
Howen  is  in  reality  Duke  of  Courland,  for  he  executes 
all  the  functions  of  the  dukedom,  and  converts  or  over- 
awes all  opponents.  Woronzow,  Soltikow,  Belsborotko, 
and  Potemkin  are  absolute  masters  of  Courland,  as 
they  are  of  Russia;  with  this  only  difference,  that  Po- 
temkin, who  possesses  a  library  of  mortgages  and  bank 
bills,  who  pays  nobody,  corrupts  everybody,  who  sub- 
jects all  by  the  energy  of  his  will  and  the  extent  of  his 
views,  soars  above  Belsborotko,  who  is  politically  his 
friend;  above  Woronzow,  who  is  capable  but  timid;  and 
above  Soltikow,  who  is  wholly  devoted  to  the  Grand 
Duke. 

(325) 


326  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

The  Duke  of  Courland  will  probably  return  no  more 
to  his  country,  because  he  has  ruined  his  affairs  in 
Russia,  is  unable  to  alter  anything  which  has  been  done 
in  his  absence,  is  entangled  in  lawsuits,  and  by  complaints 
laid  against  him  without  number,  and  because  the  regency, 
which  preserves  a  good  understanding  with  the  chiefs  of 
the  equestrian  order,  under  the  guidance  of  Howen, 
reigns  with  moderation,  conformable  to  the  laws  of  the 
land,  and  brings  down  benedictions  on  its  administration ; 
insomuch  that  the  people,  who  were  ready  to  revolt 
because  they  were  threatened  by,  and  already  were  suf- 
fering, famine,  wish  affairs  to  continue  in  their  present 
train.  It  is  to  them  of  little  import  whether  the  govern- 
ment be  or  be  not  Russian,  if  misery  be  not  entailed  on 
them.  There  is  no  possibility  of  reversing  a  system  thus 
stable.  Some  sixty  considerable  estates  have  been  granted 
as  fiefs  or  farms.  All  the  vacant  places  have  been  be- 
stowed on  persons  of  the  greatest  influence,  abroad  and 
at  home;  so  that  we  may  say  the  party  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  Howen  or  of  the  Russians  in  Courland, 
includes  everybody.  Several  millions  must  be  expended 
to  counterpoise  such  a  preponderance ;  and,  if  to  counter- 
poise were  to  vanquish,  victory  itself  would  not  be  worth 
expenses  so  great. 

One  of  the  principal  complaints  against  the  Duke  is 
the  deterioration  of  Courland,  which  has  been  effected 
by  the  total  impoverishment  of  the  peasants  and  the 
lands,  the  ruin  of  the  forests,  and  the  exportation  of  the 
ducal  revenues  into  foreign  countries.  But  the  grand 
crime,  the  crime  not  to  be  forgiven,  is  having  displeased 
Russia.  The  Empress  has  been  so  enraged  against  him, 
by  his  an ti- Russian  proceedings  in  Courland,  that  she 
herself  said :  <(  The  King  of  France  would  not  have  in- 
jured me  as  the  Duke  of  Courland  has  dared  to  do." 
She  probably  meant,  bestowing  Courland  on  Prussia. 

I  cannot  perceive  how  we  can  act  better,  in  our  pres- 
ent situation,  than  to  wait  with  patience.  Our  young 
man  will  certainly  have  a  place  in  his  own  country. 
Should  it  be  thought  proper  to  bestow  on  him  the  title 
of  consul,  with  leave  to  wear  our  uniform,  and  a  cap- 
tain's commission,  from  which  he  might  derive  respect, 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  327 

he  asks  nothing  more;  and  we  should  possess  an  intelli- 
gent, zealous,  and  incorruptible  sentinel,  who,  from  so 
well-situated  a  post,  might  inform  us  of  whatever  was 
passing  in  the  North,  and  aid  us  in  what  relates  to  com- 
merce. 

I  need  not  observe  that  great  changes  are  not  effected 
in  a  day.  We  may,  however,  depend  upon  a  confirma- 
tion of  the  Maritime  Company  as  a  symptomatic  anec- 
dote of  importance.  Struensee  has  acted  in  a  pleasant 
manner.  "Gentlemen,"  said  he,  to  the  merchants  of 
Konigsberg  and  Prussia,  "  nothing  can  be  more  excellent 
than  a  free  trade;  but  it  is  very  just  that  you  should 
buy  all  the  salt  in  our  warehouses."  "True."  "Very 
good.  You  must,  therefore,  give  us  security  for  one 
million,  two  hundred  thousand  crowns,  as  well  as  pay 
a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  crowns  annually  to  the 
proprietors,  in  return  for  the  ten  per  cent  for  which  we 
are  accountable ;  for  public  good  will  not  admit  an  injury 
to  be  committed  on  private  right."  "True."  "Very 
good.  And,  for  the  same  reason,  you  must  pay  five  per 
cent,  which  has  been  legally  granted  on  the  new  shares." 
"  True. "  "  Very  excellent,  gentlemen.  But  who  are  to 
be  your  securities  ?  Or,  at  least,  where  are  your  funds  ?  " 
"  Oh,  we  will  form  a  company ! "  "A  company,  gentle- 
men !  One  company  is  as  good  as  another.  Why  should 
not  the  King  give  the  preference  to  the  company  that 
actually  exists  ? " 

All  projects  for  the  freedom  of  trade  will,  like  this, 
go  off  in  fumo;  and,  what  is  still  more  fatal,  if  possible, 
conclusions  will  be  drawn,  from  the  ignorance  of  the 
present  administration,  in  favor  of  the  impossibility  of 
changing  former  regulations.  Such  are  Kings  without  a 
will;  such  is  the  present,  and  such  will  he  live  and  die! 
The  other  was  all  soul;  this  is  all  body.  The  symptoms 
of  his  incapacity  increase  with  aggravation.  I  shall  have 
continual  occasion  to  repeat  nearly  the  same  words,  the 
same  opinions,  the  same  remarks.  But  here,  however, 
may  be  added,  what  I  think  a  fact  of  weight,  which  is 
that  one  of  the  causes  of  the  torpor  of  interior  admin- 
istration is  the  misunderstanding  which  reigns  in  the 
Ministry.  Four  Ministers  are  in  opposition  to  two,  and 


328  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

the  seventh  remains  neuter.  Messieurs  Gaudi  and  Wer- 
der,  who  keep  shifting  the  helm  of  finance,  are  counter- 
acted by  Messieurs  Heinitz,  Arnim,  Schulemburg,  and 
Blumenthal.  The  former  of  the  last  four  is  accused  of 
attempting  to  add  the  department  of  the  mines  to  that 
of  the  finances.  In  the  meantime  the  expediting  of 
business  continues  with  Welner,  and  the  impulse  of  influ- 
ence with  Bishopswerder. 

The  latter,  either  sincerely  or  insidiously,  has  become 
the  associate  of  the  plan  to  bring  Prince  Henry  again 
into  power,  at  least  in  military  affairs.  The  Prince,  for 
several  years,  has  not  been  present  at  the  manceuvers. 
It  is  affirmed  that  he  not  only  will  be  this  year,  but 
that  he  will  be  made  a  kind  of  inspector  general.  The 
negotiation  is  carried  on,  with  great  secrecy,  by  General 
Moellendorf  and  the  favorite. 

The  marriage  of  Mademoiselle  Voss  is  again  in  report. 
Certain  it  is  that  every  species  of  trinkets  has  been  pur- 
chased, every  kind  of  preparation  has  been  made,  and 
that  a  journey  is  rumored.  Most  of  these  circumstances 
are  kept  very  secret;  but  I  am  well  assured  of  their 
truth,  because  I  have  them  from  the  Rietz  family,  who 
are  very  much  interested  in  preventing  the  union  being 
accomplished,  under  certain  formalities,  and  who  conse- 
quently are  very  actively  on  the  watch.  But  I  know  not 
what  form  they  will  bestow  on  this  half-conjugal,  half- 
concubine  state.  Yesterday,  however,  when  I  supped 
with  the  King,  I  had  ocular  demonstration  there  was  no 
longer  any  restraint  laid  on  speaking  together  in  public. 

The  King,  at  supper,  asked  me,  <(  Who  is  one  M.  de 
Laseau?"  (<  Du  Saux,  perhaps,  Sire.*  "Yes,  Du  Saux." 
a  A  member  of  our  academy  of  inscriptions. w  <(  He  has 
sent  me  a  large  work  on  gaming.  *  <(Alas!  Sire,  you 
masters  of  the  world  only  have  the  power  of  effecting 
the  destruction  of  gaming.  Our  books  will  accomplish 
but  little.  *  w  But  he  has  embarrassed  me  by  paying  me 
a  compliment  which  I  by  no  means  merit.  *  *  There  are 
many,  Sire,  which  you  are  too  prudent  to  be  in  haste  to 
merit. "  w  He  has  congratulated  me  on  having  abolished 
the  Lotto;  I  wish  it  were  true,  but  it  is  not.w  <(A  wish 
from  Your  Majesty  will  effect  much."  "I  am  some 


THE   COURT   OP   BERLIN  329 

thanks  in  your  debt,  on  this  subject,  for  this  is  one  of  the 
good  counsels  you  gave  me  in  a  certain  writing."*  (I 
made  a  low  bow.)  "But  you  must  excuse  me  for  a  time. 
There  are  funds  assigned  on  that  vile  Lotto ;  the  military 
school,  for  example. w  <(  Fortunately,  Sire,  a  momentary 
deficiency  of  fifty  thousand  crowns  is  not  a  thing  to  in- 
spire the  richest  King  on  earth,  in  ready  money,  with 
any  great  apprehensions.*  "True;  but  agreements  —  * 
"Will  not  be  violated  when  the  parties  are  reimbursed, 
or  have  any  proportionate  remuneration.  Surely,  since 
despotism  has  so  often  been  employed  to  do  ill,  it  might 
for  once  effect  good.  *  "  Oh,  oh !  then  you  are  some- 
what reconciled  to  despotism. w  (<  Who  can  avoid  being 
reconciled  to  it,  Sire,  where  one  head  has  four  hundred 
thousand  arms  ? w  He  laughed  with  a  simple  kind  of 
grin,  was  informed  the  comedy  was  going  to  begin,  and 
here  ended  our  conversation.  You  perceive,  there  is  still 
some  desire  of  being  praised  in  this  lethargic  soul. 

POSTSCRIPT. — Launay  this  night  departed  incognito.  I 
imagine  you  will  give  very  serious  offense  to  the  Cabinet 
of  Berlin  if  you  do  not  prevent  him  going  to  press,  as  is 
his  intention. 

*  Meaning  the  «  Memorial. » 


LETTER    LXIV. 

January  isth,  1787. 

I  BELIEVE  I  have  at  length  discovered  what  the  Emperor 
was  hatching  here.  He  has,  sans  circumlocution,  pro- 
posed to  suffer  Prussia  to  appropriate  the  remainder 
of  Poland  to  itself,  provided  he  might  act  in  like  manner 
by  Bavaria.  Fortunately,  the  bait  was  too  gross.  It  was 
perceived  he  offered  the  gift  of  a  country  which  he  had 
not  the  power  to  bestow,  and  the  invasion  of  which  would 
be  opposed  by  Russia,  that  he  might,  without  impediment, 
seize  on  another  which  had  been  refused  him,  and  of 
which,  if  once  acquired,  he  never  after  could  have  been 
robbed.  Your  Ambassador,  probably,  has  discovered  this 
long  before  me,  from  whom  you  will  have  learned  the  cir- 
cumstances. To  him  the  discovery  has  been  an  affair  of 
no  difficulty;  for  confidence  is  easily  placed,  in  politics, 
when  it  is  determined  that  the  proposal  shall  be  rejected ; 
besides  that  it  is  a  prodigious  step  in  advance  to  have 
the  right  of  conferring  with  Ministers,  from  whom  that 
may  be  divined  which  is  not  asked.  For  my  own  part, 
I  can  only  inform  you  intrigues  and  machinations  are 
carried  on,  and  the  very  moment  I  discover  more,  I  shall 
consider  it  as  my  duty  to  send  you  intelligence.  But  I  do 
not  suppose  I  can  give  you  any  new  information  of  this 
kind.  I  have  only  promised  to  supply  you  with  the  cur- 
rent news  of  the  Court  and  the  country.  The  rest  is  out 
of  my  sphere.  I  want  the  necessary  means  effectually  to 
arrive  at  the  truth.  God  grant  it  never  should  enter  the 
head  of  the  Emperor  to  allure  the  King  of  Prussia  more 
adroitly,  and  to  say  to  him,  (<  Suffer  me  to  take  Bavaria, 
and  I  will  suffer  you  to  seize  on  Saxony;  by  which  you 
acquire  the  finest  country  in  Germany,  a  formidable 
frontier,  and  near  two  millions  of  subjects ;  and  by  which, 
in  a  word,  you  will  extend,  round,  and  consolidate  your 
dominions.  Neither  shall  we  have  any  great  difficulties 
to  combat.  All  of  them  may  be  obviated  by  making  the 
(330) 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  331 

Elector  King  of  Poland.  The  Saxon  family  possess  the 
mania  of  royalty;  and  even  should  the  kingdom  become 
hereditary,  wherein  would  be  the  inconvenience  ?  It  is 
good,  or  at  least  it  very  soon  will  be  good,  to  possess  a 
strong  barrier  against  Russia." 

Should  they  ever  conceive  such  a  project,  it  would  be 
executed,  with  or  without  the  consent  of  all  Europe. 
But  this  they  have  not  conceived.  One  is  too  incon- 
sistent, the  other  too  incapable ;  and  after  some  disputes, 
more  or  less  serious,  the  Emperor  will  filch  a  village, 
perhaps,  from  Bavaria,  and  the  King  of  Prussia  continue 
to  crouch  under  his  nullity. 

The  misfortune  is  that  to  treat  him  thus  is  to  treat 
him  with  indulgence.  The  following  is  a  fact  entirely 
secret,  but  certain;  and  which,  better  than  all  those  my 
preceding  dispatches  contain,  will  teach  you  to  judge 
the  man.  Within  this  fortnight  he  has  paid  a  debt  of  a 
million  of  crowns  to  the  Emperor.  And  what  was  this 
debt?  The  Empress-Queen  had  lent  the  Prince  Royal, 
now  King  of  Prussia,  a  million  of  florins;  which  by  ac- 
cumulating interest,  had  become  a  million  of  crowns. 
And  when?  In  the  year  1778,  during  the  Bavarian  cam- 
paign, under  the  fatigues  of  which  they  imagined  them- 
selves certain  that  Frederick  II.  would  sink.  Thus  was 
Frederick  William  base  enough  to  accept  the  money  of 
Austria,  which  he  has  had  the  imbecility  to  repay.* 
He  had  not  the  sense  to  say,  <(Mv  SUCCESSOR  WILL  REPAY 
YOU."  No;  he  sanctions  the  act  of  the  Imperial  Court 
when  lending  money  to  the  Princes  Royal  of  Prussia. 
He  imagines  he  has  fulfilled  his  duties  as  a  sovereign 
when  he  has  had  the  honesty  to  pay  his  debts  as  an  in- 
dividual. 

The  sum  total  of  these  debts  amounted  to  nine  mil- 
lions of  crowns;  and,  though  I  do  not  indeed  suppose 
that  the  agents  are  any  losers,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that 

*  If  it  be  a  crime  for  a  prince  to  pay  his  debts,  even  though  indebted 
to  an  enemy,  it  is  a  crime  which  no  man  but  a  politician  can  discover. 
It  is  not  unpleasant  to  remark  that  Frederick  II.,  when  Prince  Royal, 
eagerly  negotiated  a  loan  in  Russia  to  promote  which,  his  letters  to 
Count  Suhm  inform  us,  he  sent  the  Grand  Duke  —  a  dried  salmon.  Vol- 
taire expected  the  largest  diamond  in  the  crown ;  he  received  a  keg 
of  wine. 


332  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

the  first  months  of  his  reign  will  cost  Prussia  thirty-six  mil- 
lions, exclusive  of  common  expenses,  gifts,  gratifications, 
pensions,  etc.  The  extraordinaries  of  the  first  campaign, 
in  which  it  was  necessary  to  remount  all  the  cavalry,  did 
not  cost  Frederick  II.  more  than  five  millions,  or  five 
millions  and  a  half,  of  crowns. 

I  have  not  yet  depicted  the  Monarch  as  a  warrior;  the 
trade  gives  him  the  spleen,  its  minutice  fatigue  him,  and 
he  is  weary  of  the  company  of  generals.  He  goes  to 
Potsdam,  comes  on  the  parade,  gives  the  word,  dines  and 
departs.  He  went  on  Wednesday  to  the  house  of  exer- 
cise at  Berlin,  uttered  a  phrase  or  two,  bade  the  troops 
march,  and  vanished.  And  this  is  the  house  in  which 
Frederick  II.,  loaded  with  fame  and  years,  regularly 
passed  two  hours  daily,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  in  dis- 
ciplining, grumbling,  cursing,  praising,  in  a  word,  in 
keeping  the  tormented  troops  in  perpetual  action,  who 
still  were  transported  to  see  the  Old  One,  for  that  was 
the  epithet  they  gave  him,  at  their  head. 

But  a  more  important  point  is  the  new  military  regula- 
tions, which  have  been  conceived,  planned,  approved, 
and,  as  it  is  said,  are  going  to  be  printed,  without  either 
having  been  communicated  to  Prince  Henry  or  the  Duke 
of  Brunswick.  The  tendency  of  this  new  plan  is  noth- 
ing less  than  the  destruction  of  the  army.  The  seven 
best  regiments  are  converted  into  light  troops,  and  among 
others  that  of  Wunsch.  I  am  yet  unacquainted  with  the 
particulars  of  the  changes  made,  but,  according  to  the 
opinion  of  General  Moellendorf,  had  Lascy  himself  been 
their  promoter  they  would  have  been  just  as  they  are. 
The  worthy  Moellendorf  is  humbled,  discouraged,  afflicted. 
All  is  under  the  direction  of  Goltz,  who  is  haughty,  in- 
capable of  discussion,  and  who  holds  it  as  a  principle 
that  the  army  is  too  expensive,  and  too  numerous,  in 
times  of  peace.  He  is  perpetually  embroiled  with 
Bishopswerder,  often  obliged  to  attend  to  business  of 
this  kind,  and  in  some  manner  under  the  necessity  of 
interfering  in  affairs  in  the  conduct  of  which  he  is  not 
supposed  to  be  equally  well  versed. 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick  does  not  come.  He  replied  to 
some  person  who  had  complimented  him  on  his  promo- 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  333 

tion,  and  who,  in  a  letter,  had  supposed  he  was  soon  ex- 
pected to  arrive  at  Berlin,  that  he  had  been  exceedingly 
flattered  by  receiving  a  title,  which,  however,  he  did  not 
think  he  had  merited;  that  he  never  had,  and  never 
should,  come  to  Berlin,  unless  sent  for;  and  of  this  he 
saw  no  immediate  prospect.  I  have  very  good  informa- 
tion that  he  is  exceedingly  disgusted,  and  will  doubtless 
be  so  more  than  ever,  should  the  constitution  of  the 
army  be  reversed  without  his  opinion  being  asked,  who 
is  the  only  field  marshal  of  Prussia. 

I  do  not  scruple  to  affirm  that,  by  the  aid  of  a  thou- 
sand guineas,  in  case  of  need,  the  whole  secrets  of  the 
Cabinet  of  Berlin  might  be  perfectly  known.  The  papers 
which  continually  are  spread  upon  the  tables  of  the  King 
might  be  read  and  copied  by  two  clerks,  four  valets  de 
chambre,  six  or  eight  footmen,  and  two  pages,  the  women 
not  included.  For  this  reason  the  Emperor  has  an  exact 
and  daily  journal  of  the  proceedings  of  the  King,  and 
would  be  acquainted  with  all  his  projects,  were  he  really 
to  project  anything. 

Never  did  kingdom  announce  a  more  speedy  decline. 
It  is  sapped  on  every  side  at  once.  The  means  of  re- 
ceipt are  diminished,  the  expenses  are  multiplied,  princi- 
ples are  despised,  the  public  opinion  sported  with, 
the  army  enfeebled,  the  very  few  people  who  are  capable 
of  being  employed  are  discouraged.  Those  even  are  dis- 
gusted, to  please  whom  all  others  have  been  offended. 
Every  foreigner  of  merit  is  kept  at  a  distance,  and  the 
King  is  surrounded  by  the  vulgar  and  the  vile,  that  he 
may  be  thought  to  reign  alone.  This  fatal  frenzy  is  the 
most  fruitful  cause  of  all  the  evil  which  at  present  exists, 
and  of  that  which  is  preparing  for  the  future. 

Were  I  to  remain  here  ten  years  longer,  I  might  fur- 
nish you  with  new  particulars,  but  could  not  draw  any 
new  consequence.  The  man  is  judged ;  his  creatures  are 
judged;  the  system  is  judged.  No  change,  no  possible 
improvement,  can  take  place,  so  long  as  there  shall  be 
no  first  Minister.  When  I  say  no  change,  I  do  not,  by 
any  means,  wish  you  to  understand  no  person  shall  be 
dismissed.  Sand  shall  succeed  to  sand,  but  sand  it  still 
shall  be,  and  nothing  better,  till  piles  shall  be  sunken 


334  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

on  which  a  foundation  may  be  laid.  What,  therefore, 
should  I  do  here  henceforth  ?  I  can  be  of  no  use ;  yet 
nothing  but  utility — great,  direct,  immediate  utility  — 
could  reconcile  me  to  the  extreme  indecency  of  the  pres- 
ent amphibious  existence  which  has  been  conferred  upon 
me,  should  this  existence  be  prolonged. 

I  am  obliged  to  repeat  that  my  abilities,  what  I  merit 
and  what  I  am  worth,  ought  at  present  to  be  known  to 
the  King,  and  to  the  Ministry.  If  I  am  capable  of  noth- 
ing, and  merit  nothing,  I  am,  while  here,  a  bad  bargain. 
If  I  am  of  some  worth,  and  may  effect  some  good  pur- 
pose, if  nine  months  (for  nine  months  will  have  passed 
away  before  I  shall  return),  if,  I  say,  a  subaltern  test  of 
nine  months,  most  painful  in  itself,  and  during  which  I 
have  encountered  a  thousand  and  a  thousand  impediments 
without  once  being  aided,  have  enabled  me  to  acquire 
some  knowledge  of  men,  some  information,  some  sagac- 
ity, without  enumerating  the  precious  contents  of  my 
portfolio,  I  am,  then,  in  duty  bound  to  myself  to  ask, 
and  either  to  obtain  a  place  or  to  return  to  a  private 
station,  which  will  neither  be  so  fatiguing  to  body  nor 
mind,  nor  so  barren  of  fame. 

For  these  reasons  I  undisguisedly  declare,  or  rather 
repeat,  I  cannot  remain  here,  and  I  request  my  return 
may  be  formally  authorized;  whether  it  be  intended  to 
employ  me  hereafter  or  to  restore  me  to  myself.  I  cer- 
tainly shall  not  revolt  at  any  kind  of  useful  occupation. 
My  feelings  are  not  superannuated,  and  though  my  en- 
thusiasm may  be  benumbed,  it  is  not  extinct.  I  have 
in  my  sensations  at  this  moment  a  strong  proof  to  the 
contrary.  The  day  which  you  inform  me  you  have  fixed 
for  the  convocation  of  the  notables  I  shall  regard  as  one 
of  the  most  glorious  days  of  my  life.  This  convocation, 
no  doubt,  will  soon  be  followed  by  a  national  assembly, 
and  here  I  contemplate  renovating  order,  which  shall 
give  new  life  to  the  monarchy.  I  should  think  myself 
loaded  with  honors  were  I  but  the  meanest  secretary  of 
that  assembly,  the  project  of  which  I  had  the  happiness 
to  communicate,  and  to  which  there  is  so  much  need 
that  you  should  appertain,  or  rather  that  you  should  be- 
come its  soul.  But  to  remain  here,  condemned  to  the 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  335 

rack,  in  company  with  fools,  obliged  to  sound  and  to 
wade  through  the  foetid  meanderings  of  an  administra- 
tion, each  day  of  which  is  signalized  by  some  new  trait 
of  cowardice  and  stupidity,  this  is  beyond  my  strength; 
for  I  perceive  no  good  purpose  it  can  effect.  Send  me, 
therefore,  my  recall,  and  let  me  know  whether  I  am  to 
pass  through  Holland. 

There,  for  example,  I  would  accept  a  secret  commis- 
sion ;  because  pacification  there  demands,  as  an  indispen- 
sable preliminary,  a  secret  agent,  who  can  see  and  speak 
the  truth,  and  who  is  capable  of  captivating  confidence.  I 
do  not  believe  foreign  politics  afford  any  opportunity  of 
rendering  greater  service  to  France.  I  fear,  since  it  is 
necessary  I  should  confess  my  fears,  we  rely  too  much 
on  the  ascendency  which  the  aristocracy  has  gained,  of 
late  years,  over  the  Stadtholdership.  I  think  I  perceive 
the  system  of  the  patriots  has  not  acquired  any  decided 
superiority,  except  in  the  province  of  Holland,  which 
does  but  disturb  its  coestates,  or  at  least  inasmuch  as  it 
excites  their  animosities.  Nay,  at  Amsterdam  itself,  the 
very  hotbed  of  anti-Stadtholder  Sentiments,  was  not  the 
Grand  Council  though  the  first  to  rise  against  the  con- 
cession of  the  Scotch  brigade  to  England,  the  first  to 
plead  in  favor  of  military  convoys,  and  to  demand  the 
dismission  of  the  Duke  Louis  of  Brunswick  ?  Was  it  not 
also  the  first  to  vote  for  a  separate  peace  with  England, 
and  for  the  acceptance  of  the  mediation  of  Russia? 
Was  not  its  admiralty,  several  of  the  members  of  which 
depend  on  the  regency,  highly  involved  in  the  plot  which 
occasioned  the  failure  of  the  Brest  expedition  ?  How  can 
it  be  otherwise  ?  The  Sovereign  Council  is  only  in  pos- 
session of  an  imaginary  authority.  It  is  the  burgomas- 
ters, who  are  annually  changed;  or  even  the  president 
of  the  burgomasters,  who  is  changed  once  in  three  months; 
or  rather,  in  fine,  such  among  the  burgomasters  as  gain 
some  influence  of  understanding  or  character  over  the 
others,  who  issue  those  orders  that  direct  the  important 
vote  of  the  city  of  Amsterdam,  in  the  Assembly  of  the 
States.  When  we  recollect  that  the  college  of  sheriffs, 
old  and  new,  from  which  the  burgomasters  are  elected, 
contains  a  great  number  of  English  partisans,  and 


336  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

depends  in  some  manner  on  the  Stadtholder,  who  chooses 
those  sheriffs,  I  know  not  how  we  can  depend  upon  the 
future  system  of  that  city. 

It  is  for  such  reasons  that  I  cannot  understand  why  it 
should  not  be  for  our  interest  to  bring  these  disputes  to 
a  conclusion,  if  we  do  not  wish  to  annul  the  Stadthold- 
ership,  which  cannot  be  annulled  without  giving  birth  to 
foreign  and  domestic  convulsions.  And  is  it  possible  we 
should  wish  for  war?  We  ought  not,  doubtless,  to  suf- 
fer the  family  of  the  Stadtholder  to  remain  possessed  of 
legislative  power,  in  the  three  provinces  of  Guelderland, 
Utrecht,  and  Over-Yssel,  by  what  is  called  the  rules  of 
the  regency;  for  this,  added  to  the  same  prerogative  in 
the  provinces  of  Zealand  and  Groningen,  inclines  the 
balance  excessively  in  his  favor.  Neither  can  it  be 
doubted  but  that  the  power  of  the  Stadtholder  ought 
to  be  subservient  to  the  legislative  power  of  the  States. 
It  is  of  equal  importance  to  our  system,  or  rather  to  the 
regular  system  of  foreign  politics,  that  the  legislative 
power  of  the  States  should  be  directed  and  maintained 
by  the  uniform  influence  of  the  people.  But  the  preten- 
sions and  passions  of  individuals,  and  the  private  inter- 
ests of  the  members  of  an  aristocracy,  have,  in  all 
countries,  too  often  been  supposed  the  public  interest; 
which  is  peculiarly  true  here,  where  the  union  of  the 
Seven  Provinces  was  formed  in  troublesome  times,  and 
by  the  effect  of  chance,  since  the  people  did  not  think 
of  erecting  a  republican  government  till  the  sovereignty 
had  first  been  refused  by  France  and  England.  Hence 
it  resulted  that  the  regents  and  the  people  never  were 
agreed  concerning  the  limitation  of  their  rights  and  re- 
ciprocal duties.  The  regents  have  necessarily  labored  to 
render  themselves  independent  of  the  people;  and  the 
people,  supposing  themselves  absolute,  since  they  never 
consigned  over  the  sovereignty  to  the  regents,  nor  have 
had  any  interest  to  support  them,  have  on  all  critical 
occasions  counteracted  their  attempts  This  was  the  ori- 
gin of  the  Stadtholder  party,  and  that  of  fluctuation 
which  has  happened  between  the  despotic  will  of  an  in- 
dividual, the  perfidious  tergiversations  of  the  wavering, 
the  feeble  aristocratical  colleges,  and  the  impetuosity  of 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  337 

an  enraged  populace.  Should  ever  a  link  of  union  exist 
between  the  citizens  and  the  regents,  the  despotism  of 
the  Stadtholder  and  the  caprices  of  the  oligarchy  will 
have  an  end;  but,  while  no  such  union  does  exist,  while 
the  mode  in  which  the  people  influence  the  Government 
remains  undetermined,  so  long  must  the  system  of 
France  remain  insecure. 

Preserve  the  confederate  constitution,  between  the 
provinces  and  the  republican  form,  in  its  reciprocal 
state.  Or,  to  reduce  the  proposition  to  the  most  simple 
terms,  INSTEAD  OF  THE  ODIOUS  AND  ILLEGAL  RECOMMENDA- 
TIONS OF  THE  STADTHOLDER,  OR  OF  A  BURGOMASTER,  SUBSTI- 
TUTE THE  REGULAR  AND  SALUTARY  RECOMMENDATIONS  OF 

THE  CITIZENS.*  Such  should  be  the  palladium  of  the 
republic;  such  the  pursuit  of  our  politics. 

This  restriction  rather  demands  a  concurrence  of  cir- 
cumstances than  the  shock  of  contention.  And  shall  we 
be  able  to  effect  it  by  those  acts  of  violence  which  are 
attributed  to  us,  even  though  they  should  not  be  ours, 
or  by  increasing  fermentation  on  one  part,  and  on  the 
other  suspicion?  Have  we  not  made  our  influence  and 
our  power  sufficiently  felt?  Is  it  not  time  to  show  that 
we  wish  only  for  the  abolition  of  the  Stadtholder  regu- 
lations, and  not  that  of  the  Stadtholdership  ?  And  how 
shall  we  conclude  without  making  the  conclusion  tragi- 
cal, since  it  is  not  in  human  wisdom  to  calculate  all 
possible  consequences,  if  we  cannot  effectually  persuade 
the  persons  at  Nimeguenf  that  such  is  our  real  and  sole 
system. 

Such  is  the  rough  draft  of  my  profession  of  faith, 
relative  to  the  affairs  of  Holland.  From  what  I  have 
said,  and  according  to  these  principles,  which  I  shall 
more  circumstantially  develop,  if  required,  in  a  written 
memorial,  it  may  be  estimated  whether  I  can  or  cannot 
be  useful  in  the  country;  further  supposing  me  pos- 
sessed of  local  information,  which  I  shall  with  facility 
acquire. 

*«  Recommendations »  implies  elections  or  appointments, 
f  The  Princess  of  Orange  and  her  party. 


LETTER  LXV. 

January  i6th,  1787. 

TN  THE  opinion  of  those  who  know  that  revolutions 
effected  by  arms  are  not  often  those  that  overturn 
States,  it  is  truly  a  revolution  in  the  Prussian  mon- 
archy to  behold  an  example  for  the  first  time  of  a  titled 
mistress,  who  is  on  the  point  of  sequestrating  the  King, 
of  forming  a  distinct  Court,  of  exciting  cabals  which 
shall  be  communicated  from  the  palace  to  the  LEGIONS, 
and  of  arranging  affairs,  favorites,  administration,  and 
grants,  after  a  manner  absolutely  unknown  to  these  cold 
and  phlegmatic  countries.  The  moment  of  the  disgrace, 
and  the  consequent  elevation  of  Mademoiselle  Voss  ap- 
proaches. Hence  intrigues,  sarcasms,  opinions,  and  con- 
jectures, or  rather  predictions.  Amid  this  mass  of 
suppositions,  true  or  false,  the  following  is  what  I  can 
collect,  which  seems  to  have  most  probability.  My 
translation  is  according  to  the  text  of  one  of  the  former 
friends  of  Mademoiselle  Voss,  to  whom  she  has  opened 
her  heart. 

This  new  Joan  of  Arc,  on  whose  head  devotion  would 
invoke  the  nuptial  benediction,  has  been  persuaded  that 
it  is  her  duty  to  renounce  marriage,  and  sacrifice  herself, 
first  to  her  country;  in  the  second  place,  to  her  lover's 
glory;  and,  finally,  to  her  family's  advantage.  The 
country,  say  her  advisers,  will  gain  a  protectress,  who 
will  remove  covetous  and  perverse  counselors;  the  glory 
of  the  Monarch  will  not  be  tarnished  by  a  double  mar- 
riage; and  her  family  will  not  be  exposed  to  the  danger 
of  beholding  her  a  momentary  princess,  and  presently 
afterward  exiled  to  an  old  castle,  with  some  trifling  pen- 
sion. They  affirm  favor  will  be  the  more  rapturous 
should  rapture  not  be  secured  by  the  rites  of  Hymen, 
and  that  the  instant  this  favor  commences  she  will  rain 
gold  on  her  relations,  with  dignities  and  gratuities  of 
every  kind.  Religious  motives  have  been  added  to 
(338) 


THE   COURT   OF   BERLIN  339 

motives  of  convenience.  It  has  been  demostrated  that 
there  was  less  evil  in  condescension  than  in  contracting 
a  pretended  marriage  while  the  former  one  remained  in 
full  force.  At  length  it  was  concluded  that  this  VICTIM 
TO  HER  COUNTRY'S  GOOD  should  be  taken  to  Potsdam  and 
offered  up  at  Sans  Souci.  A  house  has  been  prepared, 
sumptuously  furnished,  say  some,  and  simply,  according 
to  others,  and  at  which  are  all  the  paraphernalia  of  a 
favorite. 

An  anecdote,  truly  inconceivable,  which  requires  con- 
firmation, and  which  I  am  still  averse  to  believe,  is  cir- 
culated: that  the  King  prostitutes  his  daughter,  the 
Princess  Frederica,  to  be  the  companion  of  his  mistress. 

Mademoiselle  Voss  has  a  kind  of  natural  wit,  some  in- 
formation, is  rather  willful  than  firm,  and  is  very  obvi- 
ously awkward,  which  she  endeavors  to  disguise  by 
assuming  an  air  of  simplicity.  She  is  ugly,  and  that 
even  to  a  degree;  and  her  only  excellence  is  the  good- 
ness of  her  complexion,  which  I  think  rather  wan  than 
white,  and  a  fine  neck,  over  which  she  threw  a  double  hand- 
kerchief the  other  day,  as  she  was  leaving  Prince  Henry's 
comedy  to  cross  the  apartments,  saying  to  the  Princess 
Frederica,  w  I  must  take  good  care  of  them,  for  it  is 
after  these  they  run. w  Judge  what  must  be  the  manners 
of  princesses  who  can  laugh  at  such  an  expression.  It 
is  this  mixture  of  eccentric  licentiousness  (which  she 
accompanies  with  airs  of  ignorant  innocence)  and  vestal 
severity,  which,  the  world  says,  has  seduced  the  King. 
Mademoiselle  Voss,  who  holds  it  ridiculous  to  be  German, 
and  who  is  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  the  English 
language,  affects  the  Anglomaniac  to  excess,  and  thinks 
it  a  proof  of  politeness  not  to  love  the  French.  Her 
vanity,  which  has  found  itself  under  restraint  when  in 
company  with  some  amiable  people  of  that  nation,  hates 
those  it  cannot  imitate,  more  especially  because  her  sar- 
casms sometimes  are  returned  with  interest.  Thus,  for 
instance,  the  other  day,  I  could  not  keep  silence  when  I 
heard  an  exclamation,  (<  Oh,  Heavens!  when  shall  I  see, 
when  shall  we  have  an  English  play  ?  I  really  should 
expire  with  rapture!*  (<  For  my  part,  Mademoiselle, w  said 
I,  dryly,  "  I  rather  wish  you  may  not,  sooner  than  you 


340  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

imagine,  stand  in  need  of  French  play.*  All  those  who 
began  to  be  offended  by  her  high  airs  smiled,  and  Prince 
Henry,  who  pretended  not  to  hear  her,  laughed  aloud. 
Her  face  was  suffused  with  blushes,  and  she  did  not 
answer  a  word;  but  it  is  easy  to  punish,  difficult  to  cor- 
rect. 

She  has  hitherto  declared  open  war  against  the  mys- 
tics, and  detests  the  daughters  of  the  chief  favorite,  who 
are  maids  of  honor  to  the  Queen. 

But,  as  amid  her  weaknesses  she  is  transported  by 
devotion  even  to  superstition,  nothing  may  be  depended 
on  for  futurity.  Should  ambition  succeed  primary  sen- 
sations, it  is  to  be  presumed  her  family  will  govern  the 
State.  At  the  head  of  this  family  stands  Count  Finck- 
enstein,  whose  tranquillity  would  not  be  disturbed  by  the 
fall  of  the  empire,  but  who  would  with  inexpressible  joy 
contemplate  his  children  enacting  great  parts.  Next  in 
rank  is  Count  Scbulemburg,  who  has  newly  been  brought 
into  the  Ministry;  an  active  man,  formerly  even  too 
busy,  but  who  seems  to  perceive  that  those  who  keep 
most  in  the  background  become  the  principal  figures. 
This  family  preserves  an  inveterate  hatred  against  Wel- 
ner,  who  formerly  carried  off  or  seduced  one  of  their 
relations,  who  is  at  present  his  wife.  To  these  we  may 
add  the  president  Voss,  the  brother  of  the  beauty;  who 
at  least  possesses  that  spirit  of  calculation,  and  that  Ger- 
man avidity,  by  which  such  persons  profit  whenever  for- 
tune falls  in  their  way.  Should  Mademoiselle  Voss 
render  her  situation  in  any  degree  subservient  to  such 
purposes,  she  must,  while  at  Potsdam,  prepare  the  dis- 
mission of  Bishopswerder  and  Welner,  or  render  them 
useless;  for  it  is  more  the  mode  in  Germany  to  dis- 
pense with  service  than  to  dismiss.  She  herself  may 
possibly  be  ill-guided,  and  may  confide  in  the  first  who 
shall  happen  to  be  present,  for  she  is  indiscreet.  She 
depends  on  the  constancy  of  her  lover;  for  she  is  yet 
inexperienced  in  the  GRATITUDE  of  mankind.  Having 
never  yet  obliged  anybody,  she  never  yet  has  rendered 
anyone  ungrateful. 

Should  this  happen,  affairs  will  remain  in  their  pres- 
ent state,  or  grow  worse.  The  King  will  shut  himself 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  341 

up  at  Potsdam;  whence,  however,  he  will  frequently 
make  excursions  to  Berlin,  because  he  has  contracted  a 
habit  of  restlessness,  and  because  his  favorite  seraglio 
will  always  be  at  a  brothel.  He  will  then  be  totally 
idle,  will  tolerate  rapaciousness,  and,  as  much  as  he  is 
able,  hasten  the  kingdom's  ruin,  toward  which  it  tends 
as  rapidly  as  present  circumstances  and  the  vis  inertia 
of  the  German  character  will  allow;  which  does  not  per- 
mit madmen  to  commit  anything  more  than  follies,  and 
preserves  men  from  the  destructive  delirium  of  the 
passions. 

Add  to  this,  the  Emperor  dares  attempt  nothing,  is  con- 
sistent in  nothing,  concludes  nothing,  that  he  approaches 
his  end,  and  that  all  his  brothers  are  pacific.  I  should 
not  be  astonished  were  the  hog  of  Epicurus,  who,  at 
least,  is  not  addicted  to  pomp,  and  consequently  will  not 
of  himself  ruin  the  Treasury,  to  acquire,  thanks  to  cir- 
cumstances and  interested  men,  a  kind  of  glory  during 
his  reign. 

Military  regulations  are  again  mentioned.  The  regi- 
ments of  the  line  are  not  to  be  ruined,  but  it  seems 
there  is  an  intention  to  form  a  certain  number  of  bat- 
talions of  chasseurs,  who,  under  good  regulations,  may 
become  useful;  and  this,  indeed,  was  the  design  of  Fred- 
erick II.  Nothing  )ret  can  be  affirmed  on  the  subject, 
except  that  it  is  exceedingly  strange  that  Frederick 
William  should  imagine  himself  able  to  effect  any  reform, 
the  economical  part  excepted,  in  the  military  system  and 
in  the  army  of  Frederick  II. 

Prince  Henry  probably  will  have  some  influence  in  the 
army.  His  name  stands  the  first  on  the  list,  although  a 
field  marshal  has  been  appointed.  The  King  sent  him 
the  list  yesterday  to  assure  him  it  was  so,  by  M.  von 
Goltz  himself.  They  have  given  the  child  a  bauble. 
What  his  military  influence  is  to  be  must  remain  a  secret 
till  the  appearance  of  the  new  regulations.  He  is  often 
visited  by  the  general  aids-de-camp.  Whether  this  is  or 
is  not  known  to  the  King  is  doubtful,  and,  if  known,  it 
is  evident  deceit  only  is  meant,  which,  indeed,  is  a  very 
fruitless  trouble.  He  has  no  plan  contrary  to  the  poli- 
tics of  the  kingdom.  I  do  not  say  of  the  Cabinet,  for 


342  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

Cabinet  there  is  none.  Indeed,  he  has  no  plan  what- 
ever. 

Count  Goertz  is  recalled,  of  which  Count  Hertzberg 
was,  this  morning,  ignorant.  There  cannot  be  a  better 
proof  that  there  is  no  desire  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of 
Holland,  or  not  openly;  nor  simply  to  expose  the  nation 
to  a  war,  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  Stadtholder.  Of 
this,  unfortunately,  the  House  of  Orange  is  not  persuaded, 
but  of  the  contrary,  if  I  may  judge  from  the  letter  of 
the  Princess,  which  came  by  the  courier  of  this  morning, 
a  part  of  which  I  read  as  soon  as  it  was  deciphered.  It 
is  in  this  point  of  view  that  my  journey  to  Nimeguen, 
under  a  borrowed  name,  and  with  secret  authority,  known 
only  to  her  and  me,  may  become  useful.  In  this  same 
letter  I  have  read  that  the  patriots  are  endeavoring  to 
effect  a  loan  of  sixteen  millions  of  florins,  at  three  per 
cent,  although  the  province  of  Holland  has  never  given 
more  than  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  and  that  they  find 
difficulty  in  procuring  the  money. 

There  are  three  Bishops  here:  the  Bishop  of  Warmia, 
the  Bishop  of  Culm  (who  is  of  the  House  of  Hohenzol- 
lern),  and  the  Bishop  of  Paphos.  The  first,  whom  I  men- 
tioned to  you  in  my  account  of  the  King's  journey  into 
Prussia,  is  the  same  whom  Frederick  II.  robbed  of  near 
eighty  thousand  crowns  per  annum,  by  reducing  the 
revenues  of  his  bishopric  to  twenty-four  thousand  from  a 
hundred  thousand  crowns ;  for  such  was  its  value  previous 
to  the  partition  of  Poland.  The  Monarch  one  day  said 
to  him :  <(  I  have  not,  in  my  own  right,  any  great  claims 
on  Paradise ;  let  me  entreat  you  to  take  me  in  under  your 
cloak.*  "That  I  would  willingly,*  replied  the  prelate, 
*if  your  Majesty  had  not  cut  it  so  short.**  He  is  a 
man  of  pleasure  and  of  the  world,  and  who  is  only 
acquainted  with  the  fine  arts,  without  other  views  or 
projects,  religious  or  political. 

The  second  has  been  in  the  service  of  France.  He  has 
the  rage  of  preaching  upon  him  and  of  being  eloquent; 
and  the  desire  of  doing  good;  but  as  he  has  also  the 

*This  is  better  told  in  the  «  Anecdoten  aus  dent  Leben  Friedrichs  des 
Ziveiten*  where  the  Bishop  says  he  had  cut  his  coat  too  short  for  it  to 
hide  SMUGGLED  GOODS. 


THE   COURT  OF   BERLIN  343 

rage  of  running  in  debt,  and  getting  children,  his  ser- 
mons make  no  proselytes,  and  his  charities  relieve  no 
distress.  The  latter  is  a  suffragan  of  Breslau,  formerly 
a  great  libertine,  and  a  little  of  an  atheist;  at  present 
impotent  and  superannuated. 

These  three  prelates,  who  are  to  be  reinforced  by  the 
Bishop  of  Lujavia,  and  the  new  coadjutor,  the  Prince  of 
Hohenloe,  Canon  of  Strasburg,  will  hold  no  council;  nor 
will  they  justify  the  fears  the  orthodox  Lutherans,  and 
all  Saxony,  who  suppose  the  corner  stone  of  the  Protes- 
tant religion  to  be  laid  here,  have  entertained  concerning 
the  inclination  of  the  King  to  popery.  The  one  came  to 
obtain  the  order  of  the  Black  Eagle,  and  is  gratified; 
the  other  for  a  benefice,  vacant  by  the  death  of  the 
Abbe"  Bathiani;  the  Prince  Bishop  of  Wannia  for  a 
money  loan,  at  two  per  cent,  which  may  be  sufficient  to 
satisfy  his  creditors. 

Prince  Henry,  after  having  given  a  comedy  and  a  grand 
supper,  concluded  the  banquet  with  a  ball,  which  began 
gloomily  enough,  and  so  continued.  While  some  were 
dancing  in  one  room,  others  were  gambling  at  the  Lotto 
in  another.  The  King  neither  danced  nor  gambled;  his 
evening  was  divided  between  Mademoiselle  Voss,  and  the 
Princess  of  Brunswick.  He  spoke  a  word  to  M.  von 
Grotthaus,  but  not  a  syllable  to  anybody  else.  Most  of 
the  actors  and  spectators  departed  before  him.  The 
Bishop  of  Warmia  and  the  Marquis  of  Lucchesini  were 
not  so  much  as  remarked.  I  would  have  defied  the  most 
penetrating  observer  to  have  suspected  there  was  a  King 
in  company.  Langor  and  restraint  were  present,  but 
neither  eagerness  nor  flattery.  He  retired  at  half  past 
twelve,  after  Mademoiselle  Voss  had  departed.  It  is  too 
visible  that  she  is  the  soul  of  his  soul,  and  that  the  soul 
which  is  thus  wrapt  up  in  a  covering  so  coarse  is  very 
diminutive.  You  must  expect  this  continual  repetition; 
the  place  of  the  scene  may  change,  the  scene  itself  never. 

POSTSCRIPT. — The  news  of  the  recall  of  Goertz  is  false; 
and,  from  the  manner  in  which  it  was  conveyed  to  me, 
either  Comte  d'Esterno  wished  to  lay  a  snare  for  me,  or 
has  had  a  snare  laid  for  himself.  I  am  acquainted  with 


344  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

circumstances  which  make  me  believe  it  possible  the 
negotiation  should  again  be  resumed.  I  have  not  time 
to  say  more. 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick  is  sent  for,  and  will  be  here 
in  a  few  days. 

Count  Wartensleben,  who  had  for  five  months  been 
forgotten,  yesterday  morning  was  presented  with  between 
five  and  six  hundred  crowns  per  annum,  and  the  com- 
mand of  the  regiment  of  Roemer  at  Brandenburg. 


LETTER     LXVI. 

January  ipth,  1787.  The  day  of  my  departure.  This  will 
not  be  sent  off  sooner  than  to-morrow,  but  it  ought  to  arrive 
before  me. 

COUNT  SCHMETTAU,  the  complaisant  gentleman  of  the 
Princess  Ferdinand,  the  indisputable  father  of  two 
of  her  children,  had  eight  years  quitted  the  army, 
which  he  left  in  the  midst  of  war,  angered  by  a  disdain- 
ful expression  from  Frederick  II.,  and  holding  the  rank 
of  captain.  He  has  lately  been  appointed  a  colonel,  with 
the  pay  of  fifteen  hundred  crowns  per  annum.  The 
nomination  has  displeased  the  army,  and  particularly  the 
General  Aid-de-camp  Goltz,  who  has  been  in  harness 
five-and-twenty  years,  and  still  only  enjoys  the  rank  of 
lieutenant  colonel.  Count  Schmettau  has  served  with 
honor,  has  received  many  wounds,  nor  does  he  want  in- 
telligence, particularly  in  the  art  of  fortification.  He  has 
drawn  a  great  number  of  plans  which  are  much  es- 
teemed. A  military  manual  is  also  mentioned  with 
praise,  in  which  he  teaches  all  that  is  necessary  to  be 
done  from  the  raw  recruit  to  the  field  marshal.  In  fine, 
this  infringement  on  rank  might  have  been  supportable, 
but  there  has  been  another  which  has  excited  the  height 
of  discontent. 

The  commission  of  one  Major  Schenkendorff,  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  second  son  of  the  King,  who  gives  up  his 
pupil,  has  been  antedated,  by  which  he  leaps  over  six-and- 
thirty  heads.  This  dangerous  expedient,  which  Frederick 
II.  never  employed  but  on  solemn  occasions,  and  in  favor 
of  distinguished  persons,  and  which  his  successor  had  be- 
fore practiced  in  behalf  of  Count  Wartensleben,  does  but 
tend  to  spread  incertitude  over  the  reality  of  military 
rank,  and  to  be  destructive  of  all  emulation.  It  is,  be- 
sides, infinitely  dangerous  when  employed  by  a  feeble 
prince,  absurd  when  resorted  to  at  the  commencement  of 
his  reign,  and  must  finally  deprive  the  Monarch  himself 
of  one  of  his  greatest  resources,  the  point  of  honor. 

(345) 


346  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

He  has  deposited  five  hundred  thousand  crowns  in  the 
provincial  treasury,  and  has  sent  the  transfer  to  Made- 
moiselle Voss.  Thus  happen  what  may,  she  will  always 
have  an  income  of  a  thousand  a  year,  besides  diamonds, 
plate,  jewels,  furniture,  and  a  house  that  has  been  pur- 
chased for  her  at  Berlin;  which  is  a  pleasure  house,  for 
she  does  not  intend  to  inhabit  it.  Her  royal  lover  has 
himself  imagined  all  these  delicate  attentions,  and  the 
consequence  is  that  the  most  disinterested  of  mistresses 
has  managed  her  affairs  better  than  the  most  artful  of 
coquettes  could  have  done.  Time  will  show  us  whether 
her  mind  will  aspire  to  the  rank  of  favorite  Sultana. 

New  taxes  are  intended  to  be  laid  on  cards,  wines, 
foreign  silks,  oysters,  coffee,  sugar,  —  contemptible  re- 
sources! As  the  Ministry  are  proceeding  blindfold  on 
all  these  matters,  they  are  kept  in  a  kind  of  secrecy.  It 
seems  they  will  rather  make  attempts  than  carry  them 
into  execution. 

To-day,  the  birthday  of  Prince  Henry,  the  King  has 
made  him  a  present  of  a  rich  box,  estimated  to  be  worth 
twelve  thousand  crowns,  has  set  out  the  gold  plate,  and 
has  done  everything  which  Frederick  II.  used  to  do,  if 
we  omit  the  rehearsal  of  a  grand  concert,  the  day  before, 
in  his  chamber;  for  he  has  time  for  everything  except 
for  business. 

<(  Let  there  be  bawdyhouses  on  the  wings,  and  I  will 
easily  beat  him  in  the  center."  Beware  that  this  say- 
ing of  the  Emperor  does  not  become  a  prophecy.  The 
prophet  himself,  fortunately,  is  not  formidable ;  though  I 
should  not  be  astonished  were  he  to  be  animated  by  so 
much  torpor  and  baseness ;  but  if  he  do  not  wait  two  years 
longer,  the  energy  which  the  King  wants  may  be  found 
in  the  army. 

POSTSCRIPT. — The  Duke  of  Weimar  is  at  Mayence,  as 
it  is  said,  for  the  nomination  of  a  coadjutor;  but,  as  he 
visits  all  the  Courts  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Rhine,  it 
would  be  good  to  keep  a  watchful  eye  over  him,  in  my 
opinion. 

END    OF    THE    SECRET    HISTORY. 


LETTER  OR  MEMORIAL 


PRESENTED     TO 


FREDERICK  WILLIAM  II. 
KING  OF   PRUSSIA 


(347) 


LETTER   OR  MEMORIAL 

PRESENTED     TO 

FREDERICK    WILLIAM  II. 

KING  OF   PRUSSIA 
ON  THE  DAT  OF  His  ACCESSION  TO  THE  THRONE 

BY 

COMTE  DE  MIRABEAU 


Arcus  et  statuas  demolitur  et  obscurat  oblivio,  negligit  carpitque 
Posteritas.  Contrk  contemptor  ambitionis  et  infinita  potestatis 
domitor  animus  ipsd  vetustate  florescit;  nee  ab  ullis  magis 
laudatur  gudm  quibus  minime  necesse  est. 

PLIN.,  Panegy. 


(349) 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


SOME  imputations  are  at  once  so  odious  and  absurd, 
that  a  person  of  sense  is  not  tempted  to  make  them 
any  reply.  If  he  be  a  worthy  man,  silence  is  his 
only  answer  when  his  calumniators  are  anonymous. 

But,  amid  the  abuse  lately  vented  against  me,  and 
which  I  have  enumerated  rather  among  the  rewards  of 
my  labors  than  estimated  as  a  part  of  my  misfortunes, 
there  is  one  species  of  scandal  to  which  I  have  not  been 
insensible. 

I  have  been  accused  of  presenting  the  reigning  King 
of  Prussia  with  a  libel  against  the  immortal  Freder- 
ick II. 

Frederick  II.  himself  sent  for  me,  when  I  hesitated 
(much  as  I  regretted,  having  lived  his  contemporary,  to 
die  unknown  to  him)  lest  I  should  disturb  his  last 
moments,  during  which  it  was  so  natural  to  desire  to 
contemplate  a  great  man.  He  deigned  to  welcome  and 
distinguish  me.  No  foreigner  after  me  was  admitted  to 
his  conversation.  The  last  time  he  thus  honored  me  he 
had  refused  the  just  and  eager  request  which  some  of 
my  countrymen,  who  had  repaired  to  Berlin  to  see  his 
military  manoeuvers,  testified  to  be  admitted  to  his 
presence.  And  could  I,  in  return  for  so  honorable  a 
distinction,  have  written  a  libel? 

Frederick  is  of  himself  too  great  for  me  ever  to  be 
tempted  to  write  his  panegyric.  The  very  word  is,  in 
my  apprehension,  highly  beneath  a  great  King;  it  sup- 
poses exaggeration  and  insincerity,  the  wresting  or  dis- 
simulation of  truth;  a  view  of  the  subject  only  on  the 
favorable  side.  Panegyric,  in  fine,  is  to  disguise,  or  to 
betray,  the  truth;  for  this  is  one  of  its  inevitable  incon- 
veniences; never  was  panegyric  true  or  honorable  that 
was  devoid  of  reproof.  I  therefore  have  not,  nor  shall 

(35i) 


352  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

I  ever  have,  written  the  eulogy  of  Frederick  II.,  but  I 
have  for  these  two  years  past  been  endeavoring  to  raise 
a  monument  to  his  memory,  that  ought  not  to  be  wholly 
unworthy  of  the  labors  by  which  his  reign  has  been  il- 
lustrated, or  of  those  grand  lessons  which  his  successes 
and  his  errors  have  equally  taught.  I  have  engaged  in 
this  considerable  work,  which  will  see  the  light  in  the 
course  of  the  present  year,  and  of  which  I  make  no 
secret.* 

The  Memorial  which  I  presented  to  Frederick  William 
II.  on  the  day  of  his  accession  to  the  throne  was  entirely 
foreign  to  this  plan.  It  was  intended  only  to  lay  before 
him  the  hopes  of  worthy  men,  who  knew  how  many 
events,  rather  great  than  splendid,  might  take  birth  in 
Prussia  under  a  new  reign  and  a  Prince  in  the  prime  of 
manhood. 

The  following  is  the  Memorial  in  question,  which  has 
been  attributed  to  me  as  a  crime.  I  lay  my  case  before 
the  world,  that  the  world  may  judge.  I  have  not  altered 
a  line,  though  my  opinion  has  varied  considerably  in 
some  circumstances,  as  will  be  seen  in  my  work  on 
Prussia.  But  I  should  have  reproached  myself  had  I 
made  any  change,  however  trifling,  in  a  Memorial  to 
which  the  venom  of  malignity  has  been  imputed. 

It  has  been  often  asked  what  right  I  had  to  present 
such  a  Memorial. 

Besides  the  thanks  which  the  present  King  of  Prussia 
graciously  was  pleased  to  send  me  in  a  letter,  he  has 
not  disdained  personally  to  address  me,  in  a  numerous 
assembly,  at  the  palace  of  his  royal  uncle,  Prince  Henry, 
a  week  before  my  departure  from  Berlin.  This  I  have 
thought  proper  to  make  public,  not  in  answer  to  idle 
tales,  which  never  could  deceive  any  person,  but  because 
the  courage  to  love  truth  is  even  more  honorable  to  a 
King  than  that  of  speaking  truth  is  to  a  private  person. 

*This  Memorial  was  published  in  1787,  and  the  work  alluded  to  is 
*L'  Histoire  de  la  Monarchic  Prussienne.'* 


LETTER   OR  MEMORIAL 

PRESENTED    TO 

FREDERICK  WILLIAM  II. 


SIRE,    you  are    now    King-.     The    day  is   come  when   it 
has  pleased  the  Creator  to  confide  to  you  the  destiny 

of  some  millions  of  men,  and  the  power  of  bringing 
much  evil,  or  much  good,  upon  the  earth.  The  scepter 
descends  to  you  at  a  period  of  life  when  man  is  capable 
of  sustaining  its  weight.  You  ought  at  present  to  be 
weary  of  vulgar  enjoyments,  to  be  dead  to  pleasures,  one 
only  excepted.  But  this  one  is  the  only  great,  the  sole 
inexhaustible  pleasure, —  a  pleasure  hitherto  interdicted, 
but  now  in  your  power.  You  are  called  to  watch  over 
the  welfare  of  mankind. 

The  epocha  at  which  you  ascend  the  throne  is  for- 
tunate; knowledge  daily  expands;  it  has  labored,  it  con- 
tinues to  labor  for  you,  and  to  collect  wisdom ;  it  extends 
its  influence  over  your  nation,  which  so  many  circum- 
stances have  contributed  in  part  to  deprive  of  its  light. 
Reason  has  erected  its  rigorous  empire.  Men  at  present 
behold  one  of  themselves  only,  though  enveloped  in  royal 
robes,  and  from  whom  more  than  ever  they  require 
virtue.  Their  suffrages  are  not  to  be  despised,  and  in 
their  eyes  but  one  species  of  glory  is  now  attainable; 
all  others  are  exhausted.  Military  success,  political 
talents,  the  miraculous  labors  of  art,  the  progress  of  the 
sciences,  have  each  alternately  appeared  resplendent  from 
one  extremity  of  Europe  to  the  other.  But  enlightened 
benevolence,  which  organizes,  which  vivifies  empires, 
never  yet  has  displayed  itself  pure  and  unmixed  upon 
the  throne.  It  is  for  you  to  seat  it  there.  Yes,  renown 
so  sublime  is  reserved  to  you.  Your  predecessor  has 

23  (353) 


354  SECRET  COURT  MEMOIRS 

gained  a  sufficient  number  of  battles,  perhaps  too  many; 
has  too  much  wearied  fame  and  her  hundred  tongues ;  has 
dried  up  the  fountain  of  military  fame  for  several  reigns, 
for  several  ages.  Should  accident  oblige  you  to  become 
his  imitator,  it  is  necessary  you  should  appear  worthy  so 
to  be,  in  which  Your  Majesty  will  not  fail.  But  this  is 
no  reason  why  you  should  painfully  seek  honor  in  the 
beaten  path,  wherein  you  can  but  rank  as  second;  while 
with  greater  ease,  you  may  create  a  superior  glory,  and 
which  shall  be  only  yours.  Frederick  has  enforced  the 
admiration  of  men,  but  Frederick  never  obtained  their 
love:  Yes,  SIRE,  their  love  may  be  wholly  yours. 

SIRE,  your  mien,  your  stature,  recall  to  mind  the  heroes 
of  antiquity.  These  to  the  soldier  are  much;  much  to 
the  people,  whose  simple  good  sense  associates  the  noblest 
qualities  of  mind  to  beauty  of  person;  and  such  was  the 
first  intention  of  Nature.  In  your  person  the  heroic  form 
is  embellished  by  most  remarkable  tints  of  mildness  and 
calm  benevolence,  which  promise  not  a  little,  even  to 
philosophers.  You  have  a  feeling  heart,  and  the  long 
necessity  of  behaving  with  circumspection  must  have 
tempered  that  native  bounty  which  otherwise  might  have 
made  you  too  compliant.  Your  understanding  is  just ;  by 
this  I  have  often  been  struck.  Your  elocution  is  nervous 
and  precise.  You  have  several  times  demonstrated  that 
you  possess  an  empire  over  yourself.  You  have  not  been 
educated,  but  you  have  not  been  spoiled;  and  men  pos- 
sessed of  energy  can  educate  themselves.  They  are  daily 
educated  by  experience,  and  thus  are  taught  what  they 
never  forget.  Your  means  are  great.  You  are  the  only 
Monarch  in  Europe  who,  far  from  being  in  debt,  is  pos- 
sessed of  treasures.  Your  army  is  excellent,  your  nation 
docile,  loyal,  and  possessed  of  much  more  public  spirit 
than  might  be  expected  in  so  slavish  a  constitution. 
Some  parts  of  the  administration  of  Prussia,  such  as  its 
responsibility  and  consistency,  which  are  purely  military, 
merit  great  praises.  One  of  your  uncles,  crowned  with 
glory  and  success,  possesses  the  confidence  of  Europe, 
the  genius  of  a  hero,  and  the  soul  of  a  sage.  He  is  a 
counselor,  a  coadjutor,  a  friend,  whom  Nature  and  des- 
tiny have  sent  you,  at  the  moment  when  you  have  most 


MEMORIAL  TO   FREDERICK   WILLIAM  II.          355 

need  of  him,  at  the  time  when  the  more  voluntary  your 
deference  for  him  shall  be,  the  more  infallibly  will  it 
acquire  your  applause.  You  have  rivals  in  power,  but 
not  a  neighbor  who  is  in  reality  to  be  feared.  He  who 
seemed  to  proclaim  himself  the  most  formidable  has  too 
long  threatened  to  strike.*  He  has  been  taught  to  know 
you.  He  has  hastily  undertaken,  and  as  hastily  renounced. 
He  will  again  renounce  his  new  projects.  He  will  require 
all,  will  obtain  nothing,  and  will  never  be  anything  more 
than  an  irresolute  adventurer,  a  burden  to  himself  and 
others.  To  preserve  yourself  from  his  attempts,  you  need 
but  to  suffer  his  contradictory  projects  to  counteract  each 
other. 

You,  SIRE,  are  the  only  Prince  who  is  under  the  indis- 
pensable necessity  of  performing  great  things,  and  from 
whom  great  things  are  expected;  and  this  necessity,  this 
expectation,  ought  to  be  enumerated  among  your  best 
resources.  How  admirable  is  your  situation!  How 
inestimable  are  the  advantages  you  bring  to  that  throne 
whereon  being  seated  your  power  is  boundless!  A  power 
formidable  even  to  the  possessor!  But  be  it  remembered 
that  grand  institutions,  important  changes,  and  the 
regeneration  of  empires,  appertain  only  to  absolute  Mon- 
archs.  Deign,  oh,  deign,  to  accept  the  good  that  Provi- 
dence has  strewn  beneath  your  feet!  Merit  the  bene- 
factions of  the  poor,  the  love  of  the  people,  the  respect 
of  Europe,  and  the  approbation  of  the  wise!  Be  just, 
be  good;  and  you  will  be  happy  and  great. 

GREAT. — This,  SIRE,  is  the  title  you  wish;  but  you  wish 
it  from  history,  from  futurity;  you  would  disdain  it  from 
the  lips  of  courtiers,  whom  you  HAVE  heard,  and  whom 
you  SHALL  hereafter  much  oftener  hear,  prodigal  of  the 
grossest  praise.  Should  you  do  that  which  the  son  of 
your  slave  could  have  hourly  done  better  than  yourself, 
they  will  affirm  that  YOU  HAVE  PERFORMED  AN  EXTRAORDI- 
NARY ACT.  Should  you  obey  your  passions,  they  will 
affirm  —  YOU  HAVE  WELL  DONE.  Should  you  pour  forth 
the  blood  of  your  subjects  as  a  river  does  its  waters, 
they  will  pronounce  —  YOU  HAVE  DONE  WELL.  Should  you 
tax  the  free  air,  they  will  assert  —  YOU  HAVE  DONE  WELL. 

*The  Emperor  Joseph  II. 


356  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

Should  yott,  puissant  as  you  are,  become  revengeful,  still 
would  they  proclaim  you  had  DONE  WELL.  So  they  told 
the  intoxicated  Alexander  when  he  plunged  his  dagger 
into  the  bosom  of  his  friend.  Thus  they  addressed  Nero, 
having  assassinated  his  mother. 

But,  SIRE,  you  need  only  to  feel  those  sentiments  of 
justice  which  are  native  to  your  bosom,  and  that  en- 
lightened consciousness  of  benevolence  which  you  possess ; 
your  own  heart  will  be  your  judge;  and  its  decrees  will 
be  confirmed  by  your  people,  by  the  world,  and  by  pos- 
terity. The  esteem  of  these  is  indispensable;  and  how 
easily  may  their  esteem  be  obtained!  Should  you  inde- 
fatigably  perform  the  duties  of  the  day,  and  not  remit 
its  burdensome  labors  till  the  morrow;  should  you  by 
grand  and  prolific  principles  know  how  to  simplify  these 
duties,  so  that  they  may  be  performed  by  a  single  man; 
should  you  accord  your  subjects  all  the  liberty  they  are 
capable  of  enjoying;  should  you  protect  property,  aid 
industry,  and  root  out  petty  oppressors,  who,  abusing 
your  name,  will  not  permit  men  to  do  that  for  their  own 
advantage  which  they  might  without  injury  to  others; 
then  will  the  unanimous  voice  of  mankind  bestow  bless- 
ings on  your  authority,  and  thus  render  it  more  sacred 
and  more  potent.  All  things  will  then  become  easy  to 
you,  for  every  will  and  every  power  will  unite  with  your 
will  and  your  power,  and  your  labors  will  daily  acquire  new 
enjoyments.  Nature  has  rendered  labor  necessary  to 
man;  but  she  has  also  bestowed  on  him  this  precious 
advantage,  that  the  change  of  labor  is  at  once  a  recre- 
ation to  him  and  a  source  of  pleasure.  And  who  more 
than  a  Monarch  may  live  according  to  this  order  of  Na- 
ture ?  A  philosopher  has  said,  (<  No  man  was  so  op- 
pressed by  langor  as  a  King."  He  ought  to  have  said 
A  SLOTHFUL  KING.  How  can  languor  overcome  a  Sov- 
ereign who  shall  perform  his  duties  ?  How  may  he  bet- 
ter maintain  his  body  in  health,  or  his  mind  in  vigor 
than  when  by  labor  he  preserves  himself  from  that  dis- 
gust which  all  men  of  understanding  must  feel,  amid 
the  babblers  and  the  parasites  who  study  but  to  corrupt, 
lull,  benumb,  and  pilfer  Princes  ?  Their  whole  art  is  to 
inspire  him  with  apathy  and  debility;  or  to  render  him 


MEMORIAL   TO   FREDERICK   WILLIAM   II.          357 

impotent,  rash,  and  indolent.  Your  people  will  enjoy 
your  virtues;  for  by  these  only  can  they  prosper  or  im- 
prove. Your  courtiers  will  applaud  your  defects ;  for  on 
these  depend  their  influence  and  their  hopes. 

Habit,  SIRE,  no  less  than  accident,  influences  men;  and 
habit  is  determined  by  the  beginning.  Therefore  is  the 
commencement  of  a  reign  of  such  value.  Everything  is 
hoped,  and  the  slightest  effort  seconds  and  confirms  that 
hope,  increasing  it  a  hundredfold.  By  the  pleasure  of 
having  done,  we  are  strengthened  in  the  love  of  doing, 
good;  and  that  which  is  wished  is  rendered  more  easy 
by  that  which  has  been  effected. 

The  beginning,  SIRE,  depends  absolutely  on  yourself. 
Acquire  none  but  good  habits;  give  no  encouragement 
to  those  that  are  frivolous.  Display  the  man  of  order, 
the  lover  of  the  public  welfare.  You  will  soon  be  joined 
by  all  your  Ministers  and  all  your  courtiers.  Emulation 
will  spring  forth,  and  wisdom  will  inevitably  be  the  re- 
sult. Emulation  will  aid  you  to  judge  the  understandings 
of  those  by  whom  you  shall  be  approached.  It  may 
sometimes  excite  or  produce  a  happy  project,  and  you 
will  even  turn  that  propensity  to  flattery,  which  cannot 
totally  be  expelled  from  Courts,  to  the  good  of  your 
people. 

You  may  immediately  ascertain  to  yourself  that  liberty 
of  mind  which  grand  affairs  require,  by  interfering  only 
with  such  as  appertain  to  the  sovereign  authority,  and 
by  leaving  to  your  Magistrates  and  Ministers  all  those 
which  naturally  should  come  under  their  consideration. 

More  than  one  estimable  Monarch  has  rendered  him- 
self incapable  of  reigning  with  glory  by  overburdening 
his  mind  with  private  affairs.  As,  SIRE,  it  will  become 
you  always  to  govern  well,  it  will  also  be  worthy  of  you 
not  to  govern  too  much.  Wherefore  should  a  King  con- 
cern himself  with  civil  government  which  can  be  better 
exercised  without  his  aid  ?  Authority  once  established, 
external  safety  ascertained,  civil  and  criminal  justice  ad- 
ministered alike  to  all  classes  of  citizens,  landed  property 
accurately  estimated  so  as  to  be  judiciously  assessed,  and 
public  works,  roads,  and  canals  wisely  attended  to;  what 
more  has  government  to  transact  ?  It  has  but  to  enjoy 


358  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

the  industry  of  the  people,  who,  while  active  for  their 
own  interest,  are  also  acting  for  the  interest  of  the  State 
and  the  Sovereign. 

The  King  who  shall  examine  whether  it  be  not  the 
most  wise  not  to  lay  any  restraint  on  the  general  affairs 
and  business  of  men  is  yet  to  be  born;  yet  this  is  the 
King  who  would  govern  like  a  God;  and,  by  the  min- 
istry of  reason,  leaving  the  interest  of  each  individual  to 
himself,  would  ascertain  to  all  the  fruits  of  their  indus- 
try and  their  knowledge.  Where  men  are  most  free, 
there  will  they  be  most  numerous;  and  there,  also,  will 
they  pay  the  most  submission,  and  have  the  greatest 
attachment,  to  authority;  for  authority  is  essentially  the 
friend  of  that  freedom  which  it  protects.  No  man  would 
require  more  than  to  be  left  AT  LIBERTY  AND  IN  PEACE. 

You  surely,  SIRE,  are  not  to  be  told  that  the  mania  of 
enacting  and  restraining  laws  is  the  characteristic  of 
inferior  minds;  of  men  incapable  of  generalizing,  who 
feed  on  timidity,  and  shake  with  ridiculous  apprehensions. 
This  important  truth  will  indicate  to  you  the  reforma- 
tion you  ought  to  make;  and  how  much  better  you  will 
govern  than  your  predecessors  and  rivals,  by  governing 
less. 

There  are,  doubtless,  a  multitude  of  good,  useful, 
necessary,  and  even  urgent  things,  which  it  will  be  im- 
possible you  should  immediately  execute.  You  must  first 
learn  them,  must  combine,  and  leave  them  to  ripen. 
And  wherefore  should  you  confide  in  the  opinion  of 
another  ?  This  is  one  of  the  grand  errors  of  which  you 
ought  to  be  aware,  as  you  ought  also  of  being  obliged 
to  retract  what  you  have  done.  The  inconsistency  of 
that  Sovereign,  among  your  rivals,  who  has  attempted 
the  most,  has  been  more  injurious  to  the  political  respect 
in  which  he  might  have  been  held  than  his  worst  errors. 
Not  only,  therefore,  must  you  learn  what  is  to  do,  but, 
which  is  more  difficult,  you  must,  perhaps,  instruct  your 
Ministers,  and  certainly  your  people.  Let  persuasion 
precede  legislation,  SIRE;  and  you  will  meet  no  contra- 
diction, and  scarcely  any  impediments  in  those  operations 
which  require  moments  of  greater  calm,  and  less  busi- 
ness, than  are  those  of  the  beginning  of  a  reign.  But 


MEMORIAL  TO   FREDERICK   WILLIAM  II.         359 

there  are  things  which  you  may  instantly  execute,  and 
which,  by  propagating  a  high  opinion  of  your  worth, 
will  acquire  the  fruits  of  confidence  to  your  own  profit, 
and  facilitate  the  grand  changes  with  which  your  reign 
ought  to  abound. 

Suffer  a  man  who  loves  you  —  pardon  the  freedom  for 
the  truth  of  the  expression  —  suffer  a  man  who  loves 
you,  for  the  good  you  may  do,  and  for  the  grand  example 
you  shall  afford  of  the  evil  that  may  be  avoided,  to  point 
out  a  few  of  those  things  which  a  single  voluntary  act  of 
yours  may  perform,  and  which  can  only  be  productive 
of  good,  without  inconvenience,  while  they  shall  display 
the  morning  of  the  most  paternal  reign  which  has  ever 
blessed  mankind. 

Among  these,  SIRE,  and  in  the  first  rank,  I  shall  enu- 
merate the  abolition  of  military  slavery ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
obligation  imposed  in  your  States  on  all  men  from  the 
age  of  eighteen  to  sixty  and  upward,  if  able,  to  serve 
for  threepence  a  day.* 

This  fearful  law,  originating  in  the  necessities  of  an 
iron  age  and  a  half-barbarous  country ;  this  law  which  de- 
populates and  exhausts  your  kingdom,  which  dishonors 
the  most  numerous  and  the  most  useful  class  of  your 
subjects,  without  whom  you  and  your  ancestors  would 
only  have  been  slaves  more  or  less  feathered  and  painted ; 
this  law,  which  is  abused  by  your  officers,  who  enroll  more 
men  than  the  military  conscription  permits,  this  law  does 
not  procure  you  a  soldier  more  than  you  would  acquire  by 
an  increase  of  pay,  which  might  easily  be  made  from  the 
additional  revenue  which  you  would  gain  by  the  just 
suppression  of  those  ruinous  enlisters  whom  Frederick  II. 
maintained  in  foreign  countries;  and  by  a  sage  mode  of 
recruiting  the  Prussian  army,  in  a  manner  that  should 
elevate  the  mind,  increase  public  spirit,  and  preserve 
the  forms  of  freedom  instead  of  those  of  brutalizing 
slavery. 

Throughout  Europe,  SIRE,  and  in  Prussia  particularly, 
men  have  had  the  stupidity  to  deprive  themselves  of  one 
of  the  most  useful  instinctive  feelings  on  which  the  love 

*  Hutt  gros  tous  les  cinq  jours. —  I  suspect  I  have  rated  the 
groschen  too  high. 


360  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

of  our  country  can  be  founded.  Men  are  required  to  go 
to  war  like  sheep  to  the  slaughterhouse;  though  nothing 
could  be  more  easy  than  to  unite  the  service  of  the 
public  with  emulation  and  fame. 

Your  subjects  are  obliged  to  serve  from  eighteen  to 
sixty;  and  this  they,  with  good  reason,  suppose  to  be  the 
rigorous  subjection  of  servility.  The  militia  of  France 
is  the  same,  and  though  less  cruel,  is  hateful  to  the 
people.  Yet  the  Swiss  have  a  similar  obligation,  which 
commences  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  they  believe 
themselves  to  be  free  men. 

In  fact,  that  natural  confederacy  which  induces  citizens 
of  the  same  condition  to  repel  the  enemy,  and  to 
defend  their  own  and  their  neighbor's  inheritance, 
is  so  manifest,  and  the  exercise  of  it  is  so  pleasingly 
attractive  to  youth,  that  it  is  inconceivable  how  tyranny 
could  be  so  weak  as  to  render  it  a  burden. 

Impart,  SIRE,  to  this  obligation  the  forms  of  freedom 
and  of  fame,  by  making  it  voluntary,  and  necessary  in 
order  to  merit  esteem,  by  rendering  it  a  point  of  honor; 
and  your  army  will  be  better  conditioned,  while  your 
subjects  shall  imagine  they  are,  and  shall  really  be, 
relieved  from  a  yoke  most  odious. 

Begin  by  remitting  ten  years  of  service;  your  army 
then  will  not  be  debilitated  by  age. 

Let  your  peasants  afterward  form  national  companies, 
in  all  parishes,  that  shall  exercise  every  Sunday. 

Let  such  national  companies  choose  their  own  grena- 
diers; and  from  these  let  the  recruits  for  your  regiments 
be  selected, — not  by  your  officers,  not  by  the  Magistrates, 
but  by  the  plurality  of  votes  among  their  comrades. 
Arbitrary  proceedings  would  vanish,  choice  would  become 
distinction,  and  the  parishes  responsible  for  the  soldiers 
they  have  supplied.  Being  obliged  to  fill  up  their  own 
vacancies  when  drafts  are  made,  the  regiments  would  be 
always  complete,  without  effort,  without  tyranny,  and 
without  murmur. 

Kings  who  have  created  power,  impatient  of  enjoy- 
ment, have  not  confided  in  general  principles.  They 
have  feared  that  the  people  they  have  invited  into  their 
countries  should  too  soon  be  disgusted  by  the  difficulties 


MEMORIAL   TO   FREDERICK  WILLIAM   II.          361 

they  must  have  to  encounter  at  the  beginning.  Hence 
those  tyrannical  regulations,  by  the  aid  of  which  they 
have  intended  to  fix  the  wretch  to  the  soil  on  which 
he  had  been  planted.  In  the  present  state  of  your  king- 
dom there  is  no  pretext  for  the  continuance  of  this  error. 
It  is  time  to  eradicate  slavery  at  which  the  heart  revolts, 
which  drives  away  good  subjects,  or  inspires  them  with 
the  desire  of  escaping.  Banish,  therefore,  all  unneces- 
sary constraint;  and  this,  which  of  all  others  is  the  most 
unnecessary. 

Yet,  before  deciding  on  any  plan  for  the  recruiting  of 
the  army,  it  is  requisite  to  consider,  with  all  the  atten- 
tion which  it  merits,  that  of  the  most  worthy  of  your 
Ministers,  Baron  Hertzberg,  who,  to  a  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  the  wounds  of  Prussia,  and  the  means  of 
prosperity  and  cure,  joins  the  highest  degree  of  public 
spirit  and  patriotic  love.  He  supposes  it  possible  to 
recruit  the  army  by  itself,  so  as  to  provide  for  every- 
thing that  the  most  restless  state  of  politics  can  require. 
Perhaps,  and  probably,  his  plan  and  mine  may  coalesce. 
It  is  incontestably  one  of  those  which  ought  to  be  executed 
at  the  very  beginning  of  your  reign;  but  let  it  be  pre- 
ceded by  a  law  of  enfranchisement,  which  shall  procure 
your  efforts  the  universal  suffrages  of  mankind,  and  their 
combined  aid. 

It  is  not  to  a  man  so  worthy  as  you,  SIRE  (and  what 
greater  praise  can  be  bestowed  upon  a  King?),  it  is  not 
necessary  to  recommend,  with  respect  to  enrollments,  the 
religious  observation  of  all  the  stipulations  so  unworthily 
violated  by  your  predecessors,  or  the  pious  rewarding  of 
soldiers  who  have  distinguished  themselves  by  long  and 
loyal  service.  Alas!  SIRE,  I  have  seen  alms  bestowed, 
under  the  windows  of  your  palace,  upon  men  who,  while 
you  were  yet  in  your  cradle,  have  shed  their  blood  in 
defense  of  your  family.  YOIT  generous  equity  doubtless 
will  soften  the  rigor  of  their  destiny.  Remember  also 
the  duty,  the  necessity,  of  educating  the  children  of 
soldiers,  who  at  present  are  perishing  in  the  most  de- 
plorable manner,  in  the  orphan  house  of  Potsdam,  where 
more  than  four  thousand  are  huddled  together.  Human, 
ity  implores  your  protection  of  these  wretched  victims, 


362  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

and  provident  policy,  which  but  too  loudly  affirms  how 
requisite  a  great  army  will  long  be  to  the  Prussian  States, 
will  point  out  the  real  value  of  these  children. 

Men  ought  to  be  happy  in  your  kingdom,  SIRE;  grant 
them  liberty  to  leave  their  country,  when  not  legally 
detained  by  individual  obligations.  Grant  this  freedom 
by  a  formal  edict.  This,  SIRE,  is  another  of  the  eternal 
laws  of  equity,  which  the  situation  of  the  times  demands 
should  be  put  in  execution;  which  will  do  you  infinite  good, 
and  which  will  not  rob  you  of  one  enjoyment;  for  your 
people  can  nowhere  seek  a  better  condition  than  that 
which  it  depends  on  you  to  afford  them;  and  could  they 
be  happy  elsewhere  they  would  not  be  detained  by  your 
prohibitions.  Leave  such  laws  to  those  Powers  that 
have  been  desirous  to  render  provinces  prisons,  forget- 
ting that  this  was  but  to  make  them  hateful.  The  most 
tyrannical  laws  respecting  emigration  have  only  impelled 
the  people  to  emigrate,  against  the  very  wish  of  Nature, 
and  perhaps  the  most  powerful  of  all  wishes,  which 
attaches  man  to  his  native  soil.  How  does  the  Lap- 
lander cherish  the  desolate  climate  under  which  he  is 
born!  And  would  the  inhabitant  of  a  kingdom  enlight- 
ened by  milder  suns  pronounce  his  own  banishment,  did 
not  a  tyrannical  administration  render  the  benefits  of 
Nature  useless  or  abhorred?  Far  from  dispersing  men, 
a  law  of  enfranchisement  would  but  detain  them  in 
what  they  would  then  call  their  GOOD  COUNTRY;  and 
which  they  would  prefer  to  lands  the  most  fertile;  for 
man  will  submit  to  everything  that  Providence  imposes; 
he  only  murmurs  at  injustice  from  man,  to  which,  if  he 
does  submit,  it  is  with  a  rebellious  heart.  Man  is  not  a 
tree  rooted  to  the  earth  in  which  he  grows;  therefore 
pertains  not  to  the  soil.  He  is  neither  field,  meadow, 
nor  brute ;  therefore  cannot  be  bought  and  sold.  He  has 
an  interior  conviction  of  these  simple  truths ;  nor  can  he 
be  persuaded  that  his  chiefs  have  any  right  to  attach 
him  to  the  glebe.  All  powers  in  vain  unite  to  inculcate 
a  doctrine  so  infamous.  The  time  when  the  sovereign 
of  the  earth  might  conjure  him  in  the  name  of  God,  if 
such  a  time  ever  existed,  is  past;  the  language  of  jus- 
tice and  reason  is  the  only  one  to  which  he  will  at  pres- 


MEMORIAL   TO  FREDERICK  WILLIAM  II.        363 

ent  listen.  Princes  cannot  too  often  recollect  that 
English  America  enjoins  all  governments  to  be  just  and 
sage,  if  governors  do  not  wish  to  rule  over  deserts. 

Abolish,  SIRE,  the  traites  for  dines*  and  the  droits  d'  au- 
baine.\  Of  what  benefit  to  you  can  such  remains  of 
feudal  barbarism  be?  Do  not  wait  for  a  system  of  reci- 
procity, which  never  has  any  other  effect  than  that  of 
longer  detaining  nations  in  a  state  of  folly  and  warfare. 
That  which  is  good  for  the  prosperity  of  any  country 
needs  no  reciprocity.  Objections  of  this  kind  are  but 
the  foolish  objections  of  vanity.  Should  the  tyranny 
which  is  exercised  over  man  and  property  in  one  State 
be  to  the  loss  of  another,  this  is  an  additional  reason 
why  the  latter  should  put  an  end  to  such  absurd  cus- 
toms. Similar  absurdities,  perhaps,  have  obliged  its  own 
subjects  to  seek  their  fortune  elsewhere,  and  have  even 
made  them  forbear  to  return  and  bring  the  fruits  of 
their  labors  back  to  the  country  that  gave  them  birth. 
As  nothing  is  wanting  but  that  some  one  should  begin, 
how  noble,  how  worthy  is  it  of  a  great  King  to  be  first! 
Your  commercial  subjects  who  are  somewhat  wealthy 
could  not  acquire  their  wealth  at  home,  they  were  obliged 
to  seek  it  in  foreign  countries;  who,  therefore,  SIRE,  is 
more  interested  than  you  are  to  set  the  example  of  abo- 
lition, where  to  exact  is  so  atrocious?  Have  England  and 
Holland  waited  to  renounce  such  rights  till  you  should 
have  renounced  them  in  their  behalf? 

One  of  the  most  urgent  changes  which  demands  your 
attention,  and  which  a  word  may  accomplish,  is  a  law  to 
restore  to  the  plebeians  the  liberty  to  purchase  patrician 
lands,  with  all  their  annexed  rights.  The  execution 
of  the  strange  decree  by  which  they  were  deprived  of 
this  liberty  has  been  so  iniquitously  inflicted  that,  if  a 
patrician  estate  was  sold  for  debt,  and  a  plebeian  was 
desirious  of  paying  all  the  creditors,  with  an  additional 
sum  to  the  debtor,  he  was  not  allowed  so  to  do,  without 
an  express  order  from  the  King.  This  order  was  gener- 

*The  twentieth,  levied  on  all  merchandise  entering  or  leaving  the 
kingdom. 

f  The  seizure  of  the  effects  of  foreigners  who  happen  to  die  in  the 
kingdom. 


364  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

ally  refused  by  your  predecessor;  and  the  patrician  by 
whom  the  creditors  were  defrauded,  and  the  debtor  kept 
without  resource,  had  the  preference.  What  was  the  con- 
sequence of  this  absurd  law  ?  The  debasement  of  the 
price  of  land,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  first  riches  of  the 
State,  and  highly  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  noble  land- 
holders; the  decay  of  agriculture,  which  was  before  dis- 
couraged by  so  many  other  causes,  and  of  credit  among 
the  gentry;  the  aggravation  of  that  fearful  prejudice 
which  wrongs  the  plebeian  and  renders  the  patrician 
stupid,  by  making  him  suppose  his  honorable  rights  are 
a  sufficient  source  of  respect,  and  that  he  need  not  ac- 
quire any  other ;  in  fine,  the  absolute  necessity  that  those 
plebeians  should  quit  the  country  who  had  acquired  any 
capital;  for  they  could  not  employ  their  money  in  trade, 
that  being  ruined  by  monopoly;  nor  in  agriculture,  be- 
cause they  were  not  allowed  to  hope  they  ever  might 
be  landholders.  *  Is  not  Mecklenburg  full  of  the  traders 
of  Stettin  and  Konigsberg,  etc.,  who  have  employed  the 
wealth  they  gained,  during  the  last  maritime  war,  in  the 
purchase  of  the  estates  of  the  ruined  nobility  of  that 
country  ?  This,  SIRE,  would  be  a  heavy  loss  to  you,  were 
Mecklenburg  always  to  be  separated  from  your  kingdom ; 
a  loss  beyond  the  powers  of  calculation,  were  the  same 
regulations  hereafter  to  subsist.  It  is  a  remark  which 
could  not  escape  sagacious  travelers,  that  wealthy  mer- 
chants have  delighted,  in  retirement,  to  betake  them- 
selves to  agriculture.  The  most  barren  land  becomes 
fruitful  in  their  possession.  They  labor  for  its  improvement, 
and  bear  with  them  that  spirit  of  order,  that  circumstan- 
tial precision,  by  which  they  grew  rich  in  trade.  Wherever 
merchants  can  purchase,  and  wherever  trade  is  honor- 
able, there  the  country  flourishes,  and  wears  the  face  of 
abundance  and  prosperity.  Commercial  industry  awakens 
every  other  kind  of  industry,  and  the  earth  requires 
that  ingenious  tillage  which  animates  vegetation  in  the 
most  ungrateful  soil.  Ah  !  SIRE,  deign  to  recollect  this 

*  Bourgeoisie  and  Roturiers  are  terms  which  are  here  translated  by 
the  word  PLEBEIAN,  and  this  word  is  meant  to  include  all  classes,  whether 
of  tradesmen,  husbandmen,  or  liberal  professions,  that  do  not  appertain 
to  the  nobility. 


MEMORIAL   TO  FREDERICK  WILLIAM  II.         365 

tillage  never  was  invented  on  patrician  lands;  for  this 
we  are  indebted  to  those  countries  where  illustrious  birth 
vanishes  when  merit  and  talents  appear. 

Abolish,  SIRE,  those  senseless  prerogatives  which  be- 
stow great  offices  on  men  who,  to  speak  mildly,  are  not 
above  mediocrity;  and  which  are  the  cause  that  the 
greatest  number  of  your  subjects  take  no  interest  in  a 
country  where  they  have  nothing  to  hope  but  fetters  and 
humiliations.  Beware,  oh!  beware,  of  that  universal  ar- 
istocracy which  is  the  scourge  of  monarchical  States,  even 
more  than  of  republics;  an  aristocracy  by  which,  from 
one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other,  the  human  species  is 
oppressed.  It  is  the  interest  of  the  most  absolute  Monarch 
to  promulgate  the  most  popular  maxims.  The  people  do 
not  dread  and  revile  Kings;  but  their  Ministers,  their 
courtiers,  their  nobles ;  in  a  word,  the  aristocracy.  <(  OH, 
DID  THE  KING  BUT  KNOW  ! w  Thus  they  exclaim.  They 
daily  invoke  the  royal  authority,  and  are  always  ready 
to  arm  it  against  aristocracy.  And  whence  is  the  power 
of  the  Prince  derived,  but  from  the  people ;  his  personal 
safety,  but  from  the  people;  his  wealth  and  splendor, 
but  from  the  people;  those  benedictions  which  alone  can 
make  him  more  than  mortal,  but  from  the  people  ?  And 
who  are  the  enemies  of  the  Sovereign,  but  the  grandees: 
the  members  of  the  aristocracy,  who  require  the  King 
should  be  only  THE  FIRST  AMONG  EQUALS,  and  who,  where- 
ever  they  could,  have  left  him  no  other  pre-eminence 
than  that  of  rank,  reserving  power  to  themselves  ?  By 
what  strange  error  does  it  happen  that  Kings  debase 
their  friends,  whom  they  deliver  up  to  their  enemies  ? 
It  is  the  interest  and  the  will  of  the  people  that  the 
Prince  should  never  be  deceived.  The  interest  and  the 
will  of  the  nobility  are  the  very  reverse.  The  people 
are  easily  satisfied :  they  give  and  ask  not.  Only  prevent 
indolent  pride  from  bearing  too  heavily  upon  them ;  leave 
but  the  career  open  which  the  Supreme  Being  has  pointed 
out  to  them  at  their  birth,  and  they  will  not  murmur. 
Where  is  the  Monarch  who  could  ever  satisfy  the  noble, 
the  rich,  the  great  ?  Do  they  ever  cease  to  ask  ?  Will 
they  ever  cease  ? 

SIRE,  equality  of  rights  among  those  who  support   the 


366  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

throne  will  form  its  firmest  basis.  Changes  of  this  kind 
cannot  be  suddenly  made;  yet  there  is  one  of  these  which 
cannot  be  too  suddenly:  let  no  person  who  wishes  to 
approach  the  throne,  whatever  may  be  his  rank  in  life, 
be  impeded  by  the  prerogatives  of  the  great.  Let  men 
feel  the  necessity  of  equal  merit  to  obtain  preference. 
It  is  for  you  to  level  distinctions,  and  seat  merit  in  its 
proper  place. 

Declare  open  war  on  the  prejudice  which  places  so 
great  a  distance  between  military  and  civil  functions.  It 
is  a  prejudice  which,  under  a  feeble  Prince,  such  as 
your  august  family,  like  every  other,  may  some  time  pro- 
duce, will  expose  the  country,  and  the  Crown  itself,  to 
all  the  convulsions  of  pretorian  anarchy.  The  officer 
and  the  soldier,  SIRE,  should  only  be  proud  in  the 
presence  of  the  foe.  To  their  countrymen  they  should  be 
brothers;  and,  if  they  defend  their  fellow-citizens,  be  it 
remembered  they  are  paid  by  their  fellow-citizens.  In  a 
kingdom  like  yours,  perhaps,  the  warrior  ought  to  have 
the  first  degree  of  respect;  but  he  ought  not  to  have  it 
exclusively.  If  you  have  an  army  only  you  will  never 
have  a  kingdom.  Render  your  civil  officers  more  respect- 
able than  they  were  under  your  predecessor.  Nothing  is 
more  just,  or  more  easy  to  accomplish.  The  Prince  who 
reigns  over  the  affections  engages  them  by  the  simplest 
attentions.  Frederick  II.  had  the  frenzy  of  continually 
wearing  a  uniform,  as  if  he  were  the  King  only  of 
soldiers.  This  legionary  habiliment  did  not  a  little  con- 
tribute to  discredit  the  civil  officer.  How  happened  it 
he  never  felt  it  was  impossible  a  Sovereign  should 
render  men  estimable,  for  whom  he  never  would  testify 
esteem  ?  He  who  attempts  to  make  those  incorruptible 
to  whom  he  will  not  assure  pecuniary  independence 
will  be  equally  unsuccessful.  Let  the  civil  officer  be 
better  paid,  and  never  forget,  SIRE,  that  ill  pay  is  ill 
economy.  Among  a  thousand  examples,  I  will  but  cite 
the  enormous  frauds  that  the  Prussian  Administrators 
have,  for  some  years,  committed  on  the  public  revenue. 
By  an  inconsistency,  which  is  important  in  its  effects,  the 
financiers  have  been  held  in  too  much  contempt,  and 
those  who  have  been  convicted  of  acts  the  most  dishonest 


MEMORIAL   TO  FREDERICK   WILLIAM   II.         367 

have  been  too  slightly  punished.  Such  partiality  could 
only  raise  the  indignation  of  the  poor,  and  encourage 
the  fraudulent,  who  soon  learned  that  to  bribe  an  accom- 
plice was  to  diminish  the  danger. 

Prompt  and  gratuitous  justice  is  evidently  the  first  of 
Sovereign  duties.  If  the  Judge  have  no  interest  to  elude 
the  law,  and  can  receive  only  his  salary,  gratuitous  jus- 
tice is  soon  rendered,  and  will  be  equitable,  should  your 
inspection  be  active  and  severe,  and  should  you  never 
forget  that  severity  is  the  first  duty  of  Kings.  This  grand 
regulation  of  rendering  justice  entirely  gratuitous  will, 
fortunately,  not  become  burdensome  in  your  States,  for 
your  people  are  well  inclined,  and  not  addicted  to  liti- 
gious disputes.  But,  burdensome  or  not,  that  which  is 
strict  equity  is  always  necessary.  Justice,  SIRE,  precedes 
utility  itself;  or,  rather,  where  justice  is  not,  there  is 
there  no  utility.  The  Judge  ought  to  be  paid  by  the 
public,  and  not  to  receive  fees.  To  deny  this  were  absurd ; 
for  must  not  Judges  subsist,  though  there  should  not,  for 
a  whole  year,  be  a  single  lawsuit  ? 

Be  you,  SIRE,  the  first  to  render  the  administration  of 
justice  gratuitous. 

Be  you  also  the  first  in  whose  States  all  men  who  wish 
to  labor  shall  find  work.  All  who  breathe  ought  to  feed 
by  labor.  It  is  the  first  law  of  Nature,  and  prior  to  all 
human  conventions.  It  is  the  bond  of  society.  The  Gov- 
ernment that  should  neglect  to  multiply  the  products  of 
the  earth,  and  that  should  not  leave  to  each  individual 
the  use  and  profits  of  his  industry,  would  be  the  accom- 
plice or  the  author  of  all  the  crimes  of  men,  and  never 
could  punish  a  culprit  without  committing  a  murder;  for 
each  man  who  offers  labor  in  exchange  for  food,  and 
meets  refusal,  is  the  natural  and  legitimate  enemy  of 
other  men,  and  has  a  right  to  make  war  upon  society. 

Everywhere,  in  country  as  well  as  in  town,  let  houses 
of  industry  be  kept  open  at  the  expense  of  Government ; 
that  any  man,  of  any  country,  may  there  gain  his  liveli- 
hood by  his  labor;  and  that  your  subjects  there  may  be 
taught  the  value  of  time  and  industry. 

Such  institutions,  SIRE,  would  be  no  burden;  they 
would  pay  themselves.  They  would  open  a  road  to 


368  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

trade,  facilitate  the  sale  of  natural  products,  enrich  your 
lands,  and  improve  your  finances. 

Such,  SIRE,  are  the  institutions  which  become  a  great 
King;  and  not  manufactures  protected  by  exclusive 
privileges,  which  only  can  be  supported  by  injustice  and 
mountains  of  gold,  and  which  do  but  contribute  to 
enrich  a  very  small  number  of  men;  or  to  endow  hospi- 
tals, which,  if  there  were  no  poor,  would  create  paupers. 

There  are,  alas!  too  many  poor  in  Prussia,  especially 
at  Berlin,  and  the  poverty  of  whom  demands  your  atten- 
tion. In  your  capital  it  cannot  be  said  without  a  painful 
emotion,  a  tenth  of  the  inhabitants  receive  public  alms; 
and  this  number  annually  augments.  It  is,  no  doubt, 
necessary  to  limit  the  extent  of  cities,  where  excessive 
population  is  productive  of  the  worst  consequences.  In 
them  not  only  poverty  takes  birth,  but  the  worst  of 
poverty,  because  it  is  not  known  how  it  may  be  remedied. 
The  poor  of  cities  are  beings  that  have  lost  all  good 
properties,  moral  and  physical.  But,  speaking  in  gen- 
eral, the  best  opponent  to  this  increasing  poverty  would 
be  the  houses  of  industry  before  mentioned,  where  all 
men  who  have  arms  may  labor;  and  not  those  useless 
trades  which  are  wretched  in  their  pomp,  and  serve  but 
to  encourage  the  luxury  of  splendor,  which  already  eats 
up  your  kingdom;  nor  those  hospitals,  fruitful  sources  of 
depredation,  of  benefit  only  to  their  directors,  which 
engulf  sums  so  considerable ;  while  your  schools,  especially 
those  of  the  open  country,  are  so  neglected  and  so 
miserable  that  the  salaries  of  some  of  the  headmasters 
scarcely  amount  to  fifteen  crowns  a  year.  Let  Your 
Majesty  fit  your  subjects  for  labor  by  a  proper  mode  of 
instruction,  and  they  will  have  no  need  of  hospitals. 

You  are  not  ignorant,  SIRE,  that  to  instruct  is  one  of 
the  most  important  duties  of  the  Sovereign,  as  it  is  one  of 
his  greatest  sources  of  wealth.  The  most  able  man  could 
do  nothing  without  forming  those  who  surround  him, 
and  whom  he  is  obliged  to  employ ;  nor  without  teaching 
them  his  language,  and  familiarizing  them  with  his  ideas 
and  his  principles.  The  entire  freedom  of  the  Press, 
therefore,  ought  to  be  enumerated  among  your  first 
regulations,  not  only  because  the  deprivation  of  this 


MEMORIAL   TO   FREDERICK   WILLIAM    II.        369 

freedom  is  a  deprivation  of  natural  right,  but  because 
that  all  impediment  to  the  progress  of  the  human  under- 
standing is  an  evil,  an  excessive  evil,  and  especially  to 
yourself,  who  only  can  enjoy  truth,  and  hear  truth,  from 
the  Press,  which  should  be  the  Prime  Minister  of  good 
Kings. 

They  will  tell  you,  SIRE,  that  with  respect  to  the  free- 
dom of  the  Press  you  can  add  nothing  at  Berlin.  But  to 
abolish  the  censorship,  of  itself  so  useless,  and  always  so 
arbitrary,  would  be  much.  If  the  printer's  name  be  in- 
serted in  the  title-page  it  is  enough,  perhaps  more  than 
enough.  The  only  specious  objection  against  an  unlimited 
freedom  of  the  Press  is  the  licentiousness  of  libels ;  but  it  is 
not  perceived  that  the  freedom  of  the  Press  would  take 
away  the  danger,  because  that,  under  such  a  regulation, 
truth  only  would  remain.  The  most  scandalous  libels  have 
no  power  except  in  countries  that  are  deprived  of  the  free- 
dom of  the  Press.  Its  restrictions  form  an  illicit  trade, 
which  cannot  be  extirpated ;  yet  they  lay  restraints  on  none 
but  honest  people.  Let  not,  therefore,  that  absurd  con- 
trast be  seen  in  Prussia,  which  absolutely  forbids  foreign 
books  to  be  inspected,  and  subjects  national  publications 
to  so  severe  an  inquisition.  Give  freedom  to  all.  Read, 
SIRE,  and  suffer  others  to  read.  Knowledge  will  every- 
where expand,  and  will  center  on  the  throne.  Do  you 
wish  for  darkness?  Oh,  no!  Your  mind  is  too  great. 
Or,  if  you  did,  you  would  wish  in  vain;  would  act  to 
your  own  injury,  without  obtaining  the  fatal  success  of 
extinguishing  light.  You  will  read,  SIRE;  you  will  begin 
a  noble  association  with  books ;  books  that  have  destroyed 
shameful  and  cruel  prejudices;  that  have  smoothed  your 
paths;  that  were  beneficial  to  you  previous  even  to  your 
birth.  You  will  not  be  ungrateful  toward  the  accumu- 
lated labor  of  beneficent  genius.  You  will  read;  you 
will  protect  those  who  write;  for  without  them  what 
were,  what  should  be,  the  human  species  ?  They  will 
instruct,  they  will  aid  you,  will  speak  to  you  unseen, 
without  approaching  your  throne;  will  introduce  august 
Truth  to  your  presence,  who  shall  enter  your  palace 
unescorted,  unattended;  and,  having  entered,  she  will 
ask  no  dignities,  no  titles,  but  will  remain  invisible  and 
24 


370  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

disinterested.  You  will  read;  but  you  would  wish  your 
people  should  read  also.  You  will  not  think  you  have 
done  enough  by  filling  your  academies  with  foreigners. 
You  will  found  schools,  especially  in  the  country,  and 
will  multiply  and  endow  them.  You  will  not  wish  to 
reign  in  darkness.  Say  but,  *  Let  there  be  light,  *  and 
light  shall  appear  at  your  bidding ;  while  her  divine  beams 
shall  shine  more  resplendent  round  your  head  than  all 
the  laurels  of  heroes  and  conquerors. 

There  is  a  devouring  plague  in  your  States,  SIRE,  which 
you  cannot  too  suddenly  extirpate;  and  no  doubt  this 
good  deed  will  nobly  signalize  the  first  day  of  your 
accession  to  the  throne.  I  speak  of  the  lottery,  which 
would  but  be  the  more  odious  and  more  formidable  did 
it  procure  you  the  wealth  of  worlds;  but  which,  for  the 
wretched  gain  of  fifty  thousand  crowns,  hurries  the  in- 
dustrious part  of  your  subjects  into  all  the  calamities  of 
poverty  and  vice. 

You  will  be  told,  SIRE,  what  some  pretended  statesmen 
have  not  blushed  to  write,  and  publish,  that  the  lottery 
ought  to  be  regarded  as  a  voluntary  tax.  A  tax  ?  And 
what  a  tax !  One  whose  whole  products  are  founded  either 
on  delirium  or  despair.  What  a  tax!  To  which  the  rich 
landholder  is  not  obliged  to  contribute.  A  tax  which 
neither  wise  nor  good  men  ever  pay.  A  voluntary  tax? 
Strange  indeed  is  this  kind  of  freedom!  Each  day,  each 
minute,  the  people  are  told  it  depends  only  on  themselves 
to  become  rich  for  a  trifle:  thousands  may  be  gained  by 
a  shilling.  So  the  wretch  believes  who  cannot  calculate, 
and  who  is  in  want  of  bread;  and  the  sacrifice  he  makes 
of  that  poor  remaining  shilling  which  was  to  purchase 
bread,  and  appease  the  cries  of  his  family,  is  a  free  gift! 
—  a  tax,  which  he  pays  to  his  Sovereign! 

You  will  be  further  told  —  yes,  men  will  dare  to  tell 
you  —  that  this  horrible  invention,  which  empoisons  even 
hope  itself,  the  last  of  the  comforts  of  man,  is  indeed  an 
evil;  but  that  it  were  better  you  should  yourself  collect 
the  harvest  of  the  lottery  than  abandon  your  subjects  to 
foreign  lotteries.  Oh!  SIRE,  cast  arithmetic  so  corrupt, 
and  sophisms  so  detestable,  with  horror  from  you.  There 
continually  are  means  of  opposing  foreign  lotteries.  Secret 


MEMORIAL   TO   FREDERICK  WILLIAM   II.        371 

collectors  are  not  to  be  feared.  They  will  not  penetrate 
far  into  your  States  when  the  pains  and  penalties  are 
made  severe;  and  in  such  instances  only  are  informers 
encouraged  without  inconvenience,  for  they  only  inform 
against  an  ambulatory  pestilence.  The  natural  penalties 
against  such  as  favor  adventurers  in  foreign  lotteries  are : 
infamy,  an  exclusion  from  municipal  offices,  from  trading 
companies,  and  the  right  of  coming  on  'Change.  These 
penalties  are  very  severe,  and  no  doubt  sufficient;  yet  if 
violent  remedies  are  necessary  to  impede  the  progress  of 
such  a  crime,  the  punishment  of  death,  that  punishment 
at  which  my  mind  revolts  and  my  blood  is  frozen,  that 
punishment  so  prodigally  bestowed  on  so  many  crimes, 
and  which  perhaps  no  crime  can  merit,  would  be  ren- 
dered more  excusable  from  the  fearful  list  of  wretched- 
ness and  disorder,  which  originate  in  lotteries,  than  even 
from  the  most  exaggerated  consequences  of  domestic 
theft. 

But,  SIRE,  the  great,  first,  and  immediate  operation 
which  I  supplicate  from  YOUR  MAJESTY,  in  the  name  of 
your  dearest  interest  and  glory,  is  a  quick  and  formal 
declaration,  accompanied  with  all  the  awful  character- 
istics of  sovereignty,  that  unlimited  toleration  shall  pre- 
vail through  your  States,  and  that  they  shall  ever 
remain  open  to  all  religions.  You  have  a  very  natural-, 
and  not  less  estimable,  opportunity  of  making  such  a 
declaration.  Publish  an  edict  which  shall  grant  civil 
liberty  to  the  Jews.  This  act  of  beneficence,  at  the  very 
commencement  of  your  reign,  will  make  you  surpass 
your  illustrious  predecessor  in  religious  toleration,  who 
was  the  most  tolerant  Prince  that  ever  existed.  Nor 
shall  this  excess  of  beneficence  be  without  its  reward. 
Exclusive  of  the  numerous  increase  to  population,  and 
the  large  capitals  which  Prussia  will  infallibly  acquire,  at 
the  expense  of  other  countries,  the  Jews  of  the  second 
generation  will  become  good  and  useful  citizens.  To 
effect  this  they  need  but  be  encouraged  in  the  mechanic 
arts  and  agriculture,  which  to  them  are  interdicted. 
Free  them  from  those  additional  taxes  by  which  they 
are  oppressed.  Give  them  access  to  the  courts  of  jus- 
tice equal  to  your  other  subjects,  by  depriving  their 


372  SECRET   COURT  MEMOIRS 

Rabbis  of  all  civil  authority.  Oh!  SIRE,  I  conjure  you, 
beware  of  delaying  the  declaration  of  the  most  universal 
tolerance.  There  are  fears  in  your  provinces  of  rather 
losing  than  gaining  in  this  respect.  Apprehensions  are 
entertained  concerning  what  are  called  your  prejudices, 
your  preconceived  opinions,  your  doctrine.  This,  per- 
haps, is  the  only  part  in  which  you  have  been  seriously 
attacked  by  calumny.  Solemnly  prove  the  falsehood  of 
those  who  have  affirmed  you  are  intolerant.  Show  them 
that  your  respect  for  religious  opinions  equals  your  re- 
spect for  the  great  Creator,  and  that  you  are  far  from 
desiring  to  prescribe  laws  concerning  the  manner  in 
which  He  ought  to  be  adored.  Prove  that,  be  your  phil- 
osophic or  religious  opinions  what  they  may,  you  make 
no  pretensions  to  the  absurd  and  tyrannical  right  of  im- 
posing opinions  upon  others. 

After  these  preliminary  acts,  which,  I  cannot  too  often 
repeat,  may  as  well  -be  performed  in  an  hour  as  in  a 
year,  and  which  consequently  ought  to  be  performed  im- 
mediately, a  glance  on  the  economical  and  political  sys- 
tem by  which  your  kingdom  is  regulated  will  lead  you 
to  other  considerations. 

It  is  a  most  remarkable  thing  that  a  man  like  your 
predecessor,  distinguished  for  the  extreme  justness  of 
his  understanding,  should  have  embraced  an  economical 
and  political  system  so  radically  vicious.  Indirect  taxes, 
extravagant  prohibitions,  regulations  of  every  kind,  ex- 
clusive privileges,  monopolies  without  number!  Such 
was  the  spirit  of  his  domestic  government,  and  to  a 
degree  that,  besides  being  odious,  was  most  ridiculous. 

Is  it  not  astonishing,  for  example,  that  a  man  like 
Frederick  II.  could  waste  his  time  in  regulating,  in  such 
a  city  as  Berlin,  the  rates  that  should  be  paid  at  inns; 
the  pay  of  laquais  de  louage*  and  the  value  of  all  the 
necessaries  of  life;  or  that  ever  he  should  conceive  the 
project  of  prohibiting  the  entrance  of  French  apples  into 
the  march  of  Brandenburg,  which  is  only  productive  of 
wood  and  sands  ?  As  if  the  apples  of  his  provinces  were 
in  dread  of  rivals!  Thus,  too,  he  asked,  when  he  pro- 
hibited the  eggs  that  were  brought  from  Saxony,  <(Can- 

*  Footmen  that  are  hired  by  the  day,  for  the  convenience  of  strangers. 


MEMORIAL   TO   FREDERICK   WILLIAM   II.        373 

not  my  hens  lay  eggs  ?  » —  Could  he  forget  that  the  eggs 
of  the  hens  of  Berlin  must  first  be  eaten  before  the  in- 
habitants would  send  as  far  as  Dresden  for  others?  His 
prohibition,  too,  of  the  mouse  traps  of  Brunswick!  As 
if  the  man  had  ever  before  been  born  who  founded  his 
hopes  of  fortune  on  a  speculation  in  mouse  traps!  It 
would  be  endless  to  collect  all  his  singularities  of  this 
kind.  Who  can  reflect,  without  pain  and  pity,  that  four 
hundred  and  twelve  monopolies  exist  in  your  kingdom  ? 
So  interwoven  was  this  equally  absurd  and  iniquitous 
system  with  the  spirit  of  the  government  of  Frederick 
II.  Or  that  a  great  number  of  these  monopolies  are  still 
active;  at  least  that  the  prohibitive  ordinances  are  ef- 
fective, which  bestowed  such  exclusive  privileges  on 
persons  many  of  whom  have  since  been  ruined,  and  have 
become  bankrupts  or  outlaws  ?  Or  that,  in  fine,  the 
number  of  prohibited  commodities  greatly  exceeds  that 
of  commodities  that  are  permitted  ?  These  things  would 
appear  incredible  to  men  even  most  accustomed  to  indulge 
the  regulatory  and  fiscal  delirium.  Yet  thus  low  could 
even  a  great  man  sink,  who  was  desirous  of  governing 
too  much. 

Is  it  not  equally  astonishing  that  a  Monarch  so  active, 
so  industrious  in  his  royal  functions,  should  leave  the 
system  of  direct  taxation  exactly  in  the  state  in  which 
it  was  under  Frederick  I.,  when  the  clergy  were  taxed 
at  a  fiftieth  of  their  income,  the  nobility  at  the  thirty- 
third,  and  the  people  at  the  seventeenth;  a  burden  at 
that  time  excessive,  but  which,  by  the  different  varia- 
tions in  value  and  the  signs  of  property,  is  almost  re- 
duced to  nothing  ?  So  that  industry  and  trade  have  been 
most  unmercifully  oppressed  by  your  predecessor,  at  the 
very  time  that  he  was  establishing  manufactures  at  an 
excessive  expense. 

How  might  this  same  King,  so  consistent  and  perti- 
nacious in  what  he  had  once  ordained,  at  the  time  that 
he  settled  new  colonies  by  granting  them  franchises  and 
the  right  of  property,  the  necessity  of  which  to  agricul- 
ture he  consequently  knew,  suffer  the  absurd  regulation 
to  subsist  which  excludes  all  right  of  property  in  the 
greatest  part  of  his  kingdom  ?  How  was  it  that  he  did 


374  SECRET  COURT   MEMOIRS 

not  feel  that,  instead  of  expending  sums  so  vast  in  form- 
ing colonies,  he  would  much  more  rapidly  have  aug- 
mented his  revenues  and  the  population  of  his  provinces, 
by  enfranchising  those  unfortunate  beasts  of  burden  who, 
under  the  human  form,  cultivate  the  earth,  by  distribu- 
ting among  them  the  extensive  tracts  called  domains 
(which  absorb  almost  the  half  of  your  estates)  in  pro- 
prietaries, and  on  condition  of  paying  certain  hereditary 
quitrents  in  kind? 

All  these  particulars,  and  a  thousand  others  of  a  like 
kind,  are  strange,  no  doubt;  yet  it  is  not  totally  impos- 
sible to  explain  such  eccentricities  of  mind  in  a  great 
man.  Without  entering  here  into  a  particular  inquiry 
concerning  that  quality  of  mind  whence  it  resulted  that 
Frederick  II.  was  much  rather  a  singular  example  of  the 
development  of  great  character,  in  its  proper  place,  than 
of  an  elevated  genius,  bestowed  by  Nature,  and  superior 
to  other  men,  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that,  having  applied 
the  whole  power  of  his  abilities  to  form  a  grand  military 
force,  with  provinces  that  were  disunited,  parceled  out 
and  generally  unfruitful;  and,  for  that  purpose,  wishing 
to  outstrip  the  slow  march  of  Nature,  he  principally 
thought  of  money,  because  money  was  the  only  engine 
of  speed.  Hence  originated  with  him  his  idolatry  of 
money;  his  love  of  amassing,  realizing,  and  heaping. 
Those  fiscal  systems  which  most  effectually  stripped  the 
people  of  their  metal  were  those  in  which  he  most 
delighted.  Every  artifice,  every  fiscal  extortion,  that  has 
taken  birth  in  kingdoms  the  most  luxurious,  which,  un- 
fortunately, in  this  as  in  other  things,  gave  the  fashion 
to  Europe,  were  by  turns  naturalized  in  his  States. 
Frederick  II.  was  the  more  easily  led  to  pursue  this  pur- 
pose, because  such  was  the  situation  of  some  of  his 
provinces  that  they  were  almost  necessarily  a  market  for 
the  products  of  Saxony,  Poland,  etc.,  and  thus  the  multi- 
plicity and  severity  of  his  duties  were  less  rapidly 
destructive  of  the  revenue  arising  from  the  tolls.  Be- 
sides that,  his  nation,  but  little  active,  and  still,  perhaps, 
tainted  by  that  Germanic  improvidence  which  neglects 
or  disdains  to  save,  did  not  afford  him  any  other  im- 
mediate resource  than  what  might  be  found  in  the  Royal 


MEMORIAL   TO   FREDERICK   WILLIAM   II.        375 

Treasury.  He  imagined  the  Prussians  were  in  need  of 
being  goaded  by  additions,  which,  however,  could  only 
tend  to  slacken  their  pace.  He  supposed  they  might  be 
taught  wisdom  by  monopolies ;  as  if  monopolies  were  not 
injurious  to  the  progress  of  knowledge.  Having  taken 
his  first  steps,  his  unconquerable  spirit  of  consistency, 
which  was  his  distinguishing  characteristic ;  the  multitude 
of  his  affairs,  which  obliged  him  to  leave  whatever  did 
not  appertain  to  the  military  system  on  the  same  basis, 
and  with  similar  institutions,  in  which  he  found  it;  his 
habit  of  not  suffering  contradiction  nor  discussion;  his 
extreme  contempt  for  mankind,  which,  perhaps,  will  ex- 
plain all  his  success,  all  his  errors,  all  his  conduct;  his 
confidence  in  his  own  superiority,  which  confirmed  him 
in  the  fatal  resolution  of  seeing  all,  of  all  regulating,  all 
ordaining,  and  personally  interfering  in  all  —  these 
various  causes  combined  have  rendered  fiscal  robbery, 
and  systematic  monopoly,  irrefragable  and  sacred  in  his 
kingdom;  while  they  were  daily  aggravated  by  his  des- 
potic temper  and  the  moroseness  of  age. 

Evils  so  various  and  so  great  had  indeed  some  com- 
pensations. To  his  numerous  taxes  Frederick  II.  joined 
a  rigorous  economy.  He  raised  heavy  contributions  on 
his  enemies.  His  first  wars  were  paid  by  their  money. 
He  conquered  a  rich  province,  where  great  and  wealthy 
industry,  reduced  no  doubt  by  a  government  more  sage 
than  his,  had  previously  been  established.  He  drew  sub- 
sidies from  his  allies;  the  folly  of  granting  which  is  no 
longer  in  fashion.  During  four-and-twenty  years  of 
peace,  he  enjoyed  a  degree  of  respect  which  rather  re- 
sembled worship  than  dread.  He  continually  reserved, 
in  his  States,  some  part  of  the  money  he  extorted.  His 
new  military  discipline,  a  species  of  industry  of  which  he 
was  the  creator,  not  a  little  contributed  to  his  puissance ; 
and  his  wealth,  in  the  midst  of  indebted  Europe,  would 
have  been  almost  sufficient  for  all  his  wishes;  for,  had 
the  ardor  of  his  ambition  longer  continued,  what  he 
could  not  have  conquered  he  would  have  bought.  Who, 
indeed,  can  say  whether  Frederick  II.  was  not  indebted, 
for  a  great  part  of  his  domestic  success,  to  the  deplor- 
able state  of  the  human  species  in  Germany;  through 


376  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

most  of  the  States  of  which,  if  we  except  Saxony,  the 
inhabitants  were  still  more  wretched  than  in  Prussia  ? 

Yet,  SIRE,  with  efforts  so  multiplied,  what  is  the  in- 
heritance that  has  been  left  you  by  this  great  King  ?  Are 
your  provinces  rich,  powerful,  and  happy  ?  Deprive  them 
of  their  military  renown  and  the  resources  of  the  Royal 
Treasury,  which  soon  may  vanish,  and  feeble  will  be  the 
remainder.  Had  the  provinces  of  which  your  kingdom  is 
composed  been  under  a  paternal  government,  and  peopled 
by  freemen,  the  acquisition  of  Silesia  might  have  been 
more  distant;  but  how  different  would  have  been  the 
present  state  and  wealth  of  the  whole  remaining  nation! 

Your  situation,  SIRE,  is  entirely  different  from  that  of 
your  predecessor.  The  destructive  resources  of  fiscal  reg- 
ulation are  exhausted.  A  change  of  system  is,  for  this 
reason,  indispensable.  An  army  cannot  always,  cannot 
long,  constitute  the  basis  of  the  Prussian  puissance.  Your 
army  must,  therefore,  be  supported  by  all  the  internal 
aids  which  good  administration  can  employ,  built  on  per- 
manent foundations.  It  is  necessary  that  you  should 
truly  animate  the  national  industry,  in  ably  profiting  by 
those  extraordinary  and  perishable  means  which  have 
been  transmitted  to  you  by  your  predecessor.  These,  it 
is  to  be  presumed,  you  may  long  enjoy.  It  is  not,  there- 
fore, absurd  to  advise  you  to  sow  in  order  that  you  may 
reap.  Should  momentary  sacrifices,  however  great,  be 
necessary  to  render  the  Prussian  States  (which  hitherto 
have  only  constituted  a  vast  and  formidable  camp)  a  stable 
and  prosperous  monarchy,  founded  on  freedom  and  prop- 
erty, the  immensity  of  your  treasure  will  render  such 
sacrifices  infinitely  less  burdensome  to  you  than  they  would 
be  to  any  other  Sovereign,  and  the  barter  will  be  prodi- 
giously to  your  advantage,  even  should  the  rendering  of 
men  happy  be  estimated  at  nothing. 

The  basis  of  the  system  which  it  is  your  duty,  SIRE,  to 
form,  must  rest  on  the  just  ideas  which  you  shall  obtain 
of  the  true  value  of  money,  which  is  but  a  trifling  part 
of  national  wealth,  and  of  much  less  importance  than  the 
riches  which  annually  spring  from  the  bosom  of  the  earth. 
The  incorruptibility  and  the  scarcity  of  gold  have  rendered 
it  a  pledge,  and  a  mode  of  exchange  between  man  and 


MEMORIAL   TO   FREDERICK  WILLIAM   II.        377 

man;  and  this  general  use  is  the  chief  source  of  the 
deceitful  opinions  that  are  entertained  of  its  value.  The 
facility  with  which  it  may  be  removed,  when  men  are 
obliged  to  fly,  especially  from  places  where  tyranny  is  to 
be  dreaded,  has  given  every  individual  a  desire  of  amass- 
ing gold;  and  the  false  opinions  concerning  that  metal 
have  been  strengthened  by  this  universal  desire. 

No  less  true  is  it  that,  gold  being  an  engine  or  agent 
in  trade,  and  that  the  multiplicity  of  agents  is  the  in- 
crease of  trade,*  and  still  further  that  the  increase  of 
trade  is  the  prosperity  of  nations,  to  imprison  gold,  or 
to  act  so  as  to  oblige  others  to  imprison  it,  is  madness. 
What  would  you  say  of  a  Prince  who,  desiring  to  become 
a  conqueror,  should  keep  his  army  shut  up  in  barracks  ? 
Yet  Kings  who  amass  gold  act  precisely  thus.  They 
render  that  lifeless  which  is  of  no  value  except  when  in 
motion. 

But  just  ideas  concerning  the  value  of  gold  are  neces- 
sarily connected  with  those  of  the  government  that  shall 
respect  property,  and  shall  pursue  principles  of  rigorous 
justice;  such  as  shall  inspire  unshaken  confidence,  and 
render  to  each  individual  the  most  perfect  security;  for, 
without  this,  the  true  use  of  gold  is  traversed  by  in- 
numerable accidents,  that  deprive  it  of  the  utility  which 
would  otherwise  render  national  industry  so  fruitful. 

Whatever  you  may  do,  SIRE,  to  inspire  confidence,  it 
still  remains  for  you  to  observe  that  nations  have  com- 
mercial connections;  and  that  gold  forms  one  of  those, 
because  of  its  necessity  to  trade.  It  must  flow  here  or 
there,  according  to  the  indefinite  combinations  of  mer- 
chants. Hence  no  nation  can  unite  sound  opinions  con- 
cerning trade  with  restraint  on  the  exportation  of  gold. 
Each  man  must  finally  pay  his  debts,  and  no  person 
gives  or  receives  gold,  from  which  little  is  to  be  gained, 
except  when  every  means  of  paying  in  merchandise  is 
exhausted;  for  from  these,  profits  are  derived  to  buyer 
and  seller.  What  would  you  think,  SIRE,  of  a  Prince  who 
should  encourage  the  merchants  of  his  kingdom  to  es- 

*  The  whole  reasoning  here,  and,  indeed,  through  the  greatest  part 
of  the  Memorial,  is  taken  from  that  almost  inestimably  valuable  work, 
Smith's  «  Wealth  of  Nations. » 


378  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

tablish  numerous  manufactures,  consequently  to  employ 
numerous  agents,  yet  should  forbid  those  agents  to  leave 
the  kingdom  that  they  might  purchase  the  materials  of 
which  the  manufacturers  stand  in  need  ?  This,  however, 
is  the  picture  of  the  Prince  who  should  prevent,  or  lay 
restraint  on,  the  exportation  of  gold;  such  would  his 
frenzy  be.  But  in  what  does  this  originate  ?  In  his  fear 
that  the  gold  will  never  come  back.  And  wherefore? 
Because  he  secretly  feels  that  his  subjects  are  not  per- 
fectly secure  of  their  property.  Thus,  SIRE,  you  perceive 
justice,  security,  respect  for  men,  and  a  declaration 
of  war  against  all  tyranny,  are  indispensable  condi- 
tions to  every  play  of  prosperity. 

When  your  subjects  shall  be  at  ease  in  this  respect, 
entertain  no  apprehensions  should  gold  seem  to  vanish; 
it  is  but  gone  in  search  of  gold,  and  to  return  with  in- 
crease. Forget  not,  SIRE,  that  the  value  of  gold  is  lost, 
irretrievably,  when  it  is  not  absolutely  subjected  to  the 
will  of  trade,  which  alone  is  its  monarch.  By  trade  I 
here  understand  the  general  action  of  all  productive 
industry,  from  the  husbandman  to  the  artist. 

What  has  been  done  in  kingdoms  where  the  security 
of  the  citizen  is  perfect,  and  where  men  have  been  con- 
vinced that  gold  never  can  be  fixed,  nor  acquired  in 
sufficient  abundance  for  the  supply  of  exchange  ?  Why, 
in  such  kingdoms,  banks  have  been  imagined,  and  bills 
have  been  brought  into  circulation,  which,  from  the  con- 
viction that  they  may  at  any  time  be  turned  into  specie, 
have  become  a  kind  of  coin,  which  not  being  universal 
has  been  an  internal  substitute  for  gold,  and  induced 
men  not  to  disturb  themselves  concerning  its  external 
circulation. 

Of  such  establishments  you,  SIRE,  should  be  ambitious. 
Happy  the  State  in  which  the  Sovereign,  having  habituated 
his  subjects  to  the  opinion  of  perfect  internal  security, 
can  cause  sufficient  sums  to  issue  from  his  treasury  for 
the  establishment  of  such  banks,  to  his  own  advantage.* 

*  Notwithstanding  the  general  excellence  of  the  counsel  given  in 
this  Memorial,  there  seems  to  be  a  mixture  of  cunning  in  the  present 
advice,  of  which  perhaps  the  author  was  not  conscious.  But  the  pre- 
ceding letters  prove  that  he  himself  was  addicted  to  speculations  in 


MEMORIAL    TO    FREDERICK   WILLIAM   II.        379 

How  many  fiscal  inventions,  produced  by  the  spirit  of 
pilfering,  under  the  protection  of  ignorance  and  the  laws, 
how  many  absurd  and  tyrannical  taxes  might  be  annihi- 
lated, by  gaining  the  interest  of  that  money  of  which  this 
confidential  currency  should  be  the  representative  ?  And 
what  tax  ever  could  be  more  mild,  more  natural,  more 
productive,  or  more  agreeble  to  the  Monarch,  than  the 
interest  of  money  which  he  may  gain  by  a  currency  which 
costs  him  nothing  ?  Such  a  tax  is  cheerfully  paid,  for 
industry  is  the  borrower;  and,  wherever  industry  finds  its 
reward,  each  individual  wishes  to  be  industrious. 

The  outline  I  have  here  traced,  and  which  you,  SIRE, 
may  strengthen  by  so  many  circumstances  of  which  I  am 
ignorant,  and  by  so  many  others  that  would  be  too  tedious 
to  recapitulate  at  present,  will  naturally  lead  you  — 

1.  To     the    distribution     of     your    immense     domains 
among     husbandmen,    whom    you   will    supply  with    the 
sums  they  want,  and  who  will   become   real  landholders, 
that    shall   pay    a   perpetual   quitrent   in   kind,    in   order 
that  your    revenues  may  augment    in   proportion    to   the 
augmentation  of  wealth. 

2.  To  the    due   lowering    (till   such    time  as  they  may 
be    wholly    abolished)    of    indirect    taxes,    excise    duties, 
customs,    etc.,    the    product  of   which     will     continually 
increase  in  an  inverse  ratio  to   the  quantity  of   the  duty 
and  the  vigor  with  which  it  is  collected ;  for  illicit  trade, 
excited    by   too  tempting   lures,   gains  protectors   among 
those  by  whom  it  ought  to  be  repressed,  and  agents  who 
had  been  appointed  its  opponents.     Such  disastrous  taxes 
might  likewise   find   substitutes  in  the   natural    and  just 
increase  of  direct  taxes ;  as  on  land,  from  which  no  estate 
ought  to  be  free ;  for  land  finally  bears  the  whole  burden 
of   taxation,  which   burden  is   the    heavier   the  more  the 
means  of  laying  it  on  are  indirect.     How  many  disputes, 
shackles,  inquisitions,  and   disorders  would   then   vanish! 
Plagues  which   are  more    odious,  more    oppressive,    than 
the  burden  of   the    tax  itself;  and  even  more  intolerable 

stockjobbing  ;  and,  still  more,  that  he  wished    to  procure   loans  from 

Prussia   to   supply  the   immediate    necessities   of   France,  and  of  his 

friend  De  Calotme.  The  advice,  however,  might  be,  and  probably  was, 
good. 


380  SECRET    COURT   MEMOIRS 

from  the  mode  of  assessment  than  from  the  value !  That 
artificial  vice  which,  before  the  last  reign,  was  unknown 
in  your  kingdom,  the  vice  of  illicit  trade,  which  makes 
deceit  the  basis  of  commerce,  depraves  the  manners, 
and  inspires  a  general  contempt  for  the  laws,  then 
would  disappear.  To  the  regions  of  hell  itself  would 
then  be  banished  the  infernal  power  which  your 
predecessor  conferred  on  the  administrators  of  excise 
duties  and  tolls,  of  arbitrarily  increasing  the  penalties 
and  punishments  inflicted  on  smugglers. 

3.  You  will  firmly  and  invariably  determine  on  the 
system  of  favoring,  by  every  possible  means,  the  TRANSIT 
TRADE,*  which  must  find  new  roads  should  foreigners 
longer  be  vexed;  or  rather,  has  already  found  new  roads. 
The  impositions  and  minute  examinations,  which  are  oc- 
casioned by  the  manner  of  levying  duties  on  this  trade, 
and  the  fatal  vigilance  that  has  been  employed  not  to 
suffer  contraband  goods  to  find  entrance  at  the  fair  of 
Frankfort  on  the  Oder,  has  produced  this  fatal  effect, 
that  the  Poles,  who  formerly  carried  on  a  very  consid- 
erable trade  at  Frankfort  and  at  Breslau,  at  present  to- 
tally avoid  both  places,  and  condemn  themselves  to  a 
circuit  of  near  a  hundred  German  miles  f  through  a  great 
part  of  Poland,  Moravia,  and  Bohemia,  that  they  may 
arrive  at  Leipsic;  for  which  reason  this  last  city,  which 
is  much  less  favorably  situated  than  Frankfort  on  the 
Oder,  where  there  is  a  great  river,  has  within  these 
fifteen  years  become  flourishing;  while  the  former,  from 
the  same  cause,  has  fallen  to  decay;  which  decay  con- 
tinues increasing,  and  that  at  the  very  moment  when  the 
revolution  in  America  threatens  the  North  with  so  pow- 
erful a  rivalship.  Profit,  SIRE,  by  the  last  stage  in  which 
perhaps,  the  transit  trade  can  be  an  object  of  any  im- 
portance. Favor  it  by  taking  off  the  chief  of  the  duties 
which  shackle  it  at  present,  and  impart  a  confidence  be- 
fitting of  your  candor  and  generous  benevolence.  How 
might  you  find  a  more  fortunate  moment  in  which  to 

*The  passage  of  foreign  goods  through  the  Prussian  States  into 
other  countries. 

t  The  German  mile  is  irregular.  It  contains  from  four  to  five,  six, 
seven,  and  even  more  miles  English. 


MEMORIAL   TO    FREDERICK   WILLIAM   II.         381 

manifest  such  intentions  than  that  wherein  your  neigh- 
bors are  signalizing  themselves  by  so  many  prohibitive 
frenzies  ? 

4.  To    you,   SIRE,    is    reserved    the    real   and    singular 
honor  of   abolishing   monopolies,    which    are    no   less  in- 
jurious to  good  sense  than  to  equity;  and  which,  in  your 
kingdom,  are  so  perpetual   a  source  of  hatred  and  male- 
diction.    The  Prussian  merchants,    incited    by  the  exam- 
ple   of    monopolizing     companies    ( Nature,    desirous    of 
preserving    the    human   race,    ever  causes   evil   itself   to 
produce  good),  and,  thanks  to  the   excellent  situation  of 
your    States,    have    made   some    progress,    in    despite   of 
every    effort   to    stifle    their   industry,    on    the     first    ray 
of   hope    that    monopolies    should    disappear;    and    these 
merchants    will,     by    voluntary    contributions,     afford    a 
substitute   for   a  part   of  the   deficiency   which  the   new 
system  may  at  first  occasion  in  your  revenues. 

5.  You  will,  finally,  arrive  at  the  greatest  of  benefits, 
and  at  the   most   useful   of    speculations   in   politics    and 
finance.     You  will  set  industry,    arts,    manufactures,  and 
commerce  free;    commerce,    which  only    can   exist  under 
the  protection  of  freedom;    commerce,    which  prefers  no 
request  to  Kings  except   not  to   do  it  an    injury.     When 
you  shall  seriously  have  examined    whether    those  manu- 
factures   which    never    can    support   a    foreign   rivalship 
deserve  to  be  encouraged    at  an  expense    so  heavy,    pro- 
hibitions will   then   presently   vanish    from    your    States. 
The  linens  of  Silesia  never  were   otherwise  favored  than 
by    exempting    the    weavers    from    military   enrollment; 
and,  of  all  the   objects    of    Prussian    trade,    these    linens 
are  the  most  important.      In  none  of  your   provinces  are 
any  manufactures  to    be  found   more   flourishing  than  in 
that  of  Westphalia;  namely,  in  the  county  of  Marck;  yet 
never  has  Government    done    anything   to  encourage  the 
industry    of    this    province,    except   in   not    inflicting   in- 
ternal vexations.     I  repeat,  internal,  for  all  the  products 
of  the  industry  of  Prussian  subjects,    beyond  the  Weser, 
are  accounted  foreign    and  contraband,    in   all   the   other 
provinces;    which   odious    and    absurd   iniquity  you   will 
not   suffer   to   subsist.      You    will    enfranchise   all,    SIRE, 
and  will  grant  no  more  exclusive  privileges.     Those  who 


382  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

demand  them  are  generally  either  knaves  or  fools;  and 
to  acquiesce  in  their  requests  is  the  surest  method  of 
strangling  industry.  If  such  are  found  in  England,  it  is 
because  the  form  in  which  they  are  granted  renders  them 
almost  null.  In  Ireland  they  are  no  longer  admitted. 
The  Government  and  the  Dublin  Society  afford  support 
and  give  bounties,  but  on  condition  that  no  exclusive 
privilege  is  asked.  The  most  magnificent,  as  well  as  the 
most  certain,  means  of  possessing  everything  Nature 
bestows  is  freedom,  SIRE.  It  is  the  prodigality  with 
which  she  bestows  that  attracts  men,  by  moral  feeling 
and  physical  good.  All  exclusive  grants  wound  the  first, 
and  banish  the  second. 

I  entreat,  SIRE,  you  would  remark  that  I  do  not  pro- 
pose you  should  suddenly,  and  incautiously,  lop  away  all 
the  parasite  suckers  which  disfigure  and  enfeeble  the 
royal  stock  which  you  were  born  to  embellish  and 
strengthen;  but  I  likewise  conjure  you  not  to  be 
impeded  by  the  fear  of  meeting  your  collectors  with 
empty  hands;  for  this  fear,  being  solely  occupied  con- 
cerning self,  they  will  not  fail  to  increase.  The  only 
man  among  them  who  really  possesses  an  extensive 
knowledge  of  the  general  connections  of  commerce,  and 
from  whom  you  may  expect  able  services,  whenever  your 
system  shall  invariably  be  directed  to  obtain  other  pur- 
poses than  those  to  which  his  talents  have  hitherto  been 
prostituted,  STRUENSEE,  will  confirm  all  my  principles. 
He  will  indicate  various  means  to  Your  Majesty,  which 
may  serve  as  substitutes  to  fiscal  extortions.  Thus,  for 
instance,  the  commutation  of  duties,  which  is  a  new  art, 
may,  under  the  direction  of  a  man  so  enlightened,  greatly 
increase  your  revenues  by  lightening  the  public  burden. 

England,  formed  to  afford  lessons  to  the  whole  earth, 
and  to  astonish  the  human  mind  by  demonstrating  the 
infinite  resources  of  credit,  in  support  of  which  every- 
thing is  made  to  concur  —  England  has  lately  made  a 
fine  and  fortunate  experiment  of  this  kind.  She  has 
commuted  the  duties  on  tea  by  a  tax  on  windows,  and 
the  success  is  wonderful.  Acquire  a  clear  knowledge  of 
this  operation,  SIRE.  It  is  preserved,  with  all  the  effects 
it  has  produced,  in  a  work  which  will  open  vast  pros- 


MEMORIAL   TO   FREDERICK   WILLIAM   II.        383 

pects  to  your  view.  Your  generalizing  mind  will  take 
confidence  in  the  industry  of  the  honest  man,  and  in  the 
resources  of  his  sensibility,  aided  by  experience  and  tal- 
ents; though  the  misfortune  of  heavy  taxes  and  the  vi- 
cious mode  of  assessment  should  necessarily  be  prolonged. 

But,  SIRE,  were  you  obliged  to  accept  that  heavy 
interest  which  Powers  in  debt  are  obliged  to  pay,  as  a 
substitute  for  duties  that,  though  destructive,  are  not 
commutable,  where  would  be  the  misfortune?  What  ad- 
vantage might  not  result  from  treasures  employed  to  obtain 
the  payment  of  interest  by  which  monarchies  the  most 
formidable  are  enfeebled?  Wherefore  not  seize  the  means 
which  they  themselves  furnish  at  their  own  expense,  no 
longer  to  stand  in  awe  of  them  ?  Do  not  you  perceive, 
SIRE,  that  you  would  thus  without  danger  make  them 
pay  you  tribute  ?  For  the  governments  which  might  be 
mad  enough  to  wish  to  rob  their  creditors  would  be 
unable,  thanks  to  the  general  intercourse  of  trade. 

It  remains  to  inquire  to  whom  you  would  confide  labors 
so  difficult,  yet  so  interesting.  It  is  not  for  a  stranger 
to  estimate  the  worth  of  your  subjects.  Yet,  SIRE,  is 
there  one  whose  talents  are  esteemed  in  France  and 
England,  and  him,  therefore,  I  may  venture  to  name. 
Baron  Knyphausen  is  well  acquainted  with  men  and 
things,  in  those  countries  in  which  he  has  served,  and 
particularly  with  the  system  of  the  public  funds. 

But  more  especially,  SIRE,  summon  the  merchants. 
Among  them  are  most  commonly  found  probity  and 
abilities.  From  them  is  derived  the  theory  of  order; 
and  without  order  what  can  be  accomplished  ?  They  are 
in  general  men  of  moderation,  divested  of  pomp,  and 
for  that  reason  merit  preference.  Be  persuaded,  SIRE, 
that  the  most  enlightened,  the  most  wise,  and  the  most 
humane  of  mankind,  would  depart  from  you  were  their 
reward  to  consist  in  the  vain  decorations  which  titles 
bestow.  These  cannot  be  accepted  without  trampling  on 
principles  to  which  men  are  indebted  for  the  glory  of 
having  merited  reward;  nor  without  paying  with  con- 
tempt the  class  they  honor.  The  merchant  who  is 
worthy  of  your  confidence  will  dread  making  himself 
guilty  of  such  ingratitude  toward  his  equals;  and  this  is 


384  SECRET   COURT   MEMOIRS 

one  of  the  characteristics  by  which  he  will  be  dis- 
tinguished. In  the  title  of  Lord  Chatham  the  great  Pitt 
expired ;  nor  did  the  lord  ever  console  himself  for  having 
acted  thus  traitorously  toward  his  own  glory.  The  serv- 
ices of  the  merchants  you  may  employ,  far  from  multi- 
plying, must  destroy  the  monstrous  inequalities  which 
disorganize  and  deform  your  States.  Thus  will  men  like 
these  find  their  reward,  and  not  in  silly  titles,  or  the 
vain  decorations  of  nobility. 

But,  SIRE,  I  have  too  long  intruded  upon  the  precious 
moments  in  which  the  scepter  has  so  lately  been  con- 
fided to  your  hands.  What  can  I  add  which  your  own 
reflections,  increased  by  facts  that  daily  must  fall  under 
your  notice,  will  not  convey  a  thousand  times  more 
forcibly  than  any  words  of  mine  can?  I  have  imagined 
it  might  not  be  wholly  fruitless  to  awaken  these  ideas 
at  the  moment  of  a  change  so  new,  under  a  variety  of 
affairs  so  great,  and  a  multitude  of  interests  and  intrigues 
which  must  traverse  and  combat  each  other  round  your 
throne,  and  which  may  deprive  you  of  that  calm  of 
mind  that  is  necessary  to  abstract  and  to  select.  Should 
you  in  any  degree  be  affected  by  my  frankness,  I  dare 
hope  it  will  not  be  unpleasantly.  Meditate,  O  FRED- 
ERICK! on  this  free,  sincere,  but  respectful  remonstrance, 
and  deign  to  say: 

*  Here  I  find  what  no  man  has  informed  me  of.  and 
perhaps  the  reverse  of  what  I  shall  be  daily  told.  The 
most  courageous  present  truth  to  Kings  under  a  veil;  I 
here  behold  her  naked.  This  is  more  worthy  of  me 
than  the  venal  incense  of  rhymers,  with  which  I  am  suf- 
focated; or  academical  panegyrics,  which  assaulted  me 
in  the  cradle,  and  scarcely  will  quit  me  in  the  coffin.  I 
was  a  man  before  I  was  a  King.  Wherefore  then  take 
offense  at  being  treated  like  a  man;  or  because  a  stran- 
ger, who  asks  nothing  from  me,  and  who  soon  will  quit 
my  Court,  never  to  behold  it  more,  speaks  to  me  with- 
out disguise?  He  lays  before  me  what  inspection,  experi- 
ence, study,  and  understanding  have  collected.  He  gratis 
gives  me  that  true  and  liberal  advice  of  which  no  man 
stands  so  much  in  need  as  he  who  is  devoted  to  the 
public  good.  Interest  to  deceive  me  he  has  none;  his 


MEMORIAL   TO    FREDERICK  WILLIAM   II.        385 

intentions  cannot  be  evil.  Let  me  attentively  examine 
what  he  has  proposed;  for  the  simple  good  sense,  the 
native  candor  of  the  man,  whose  only  employment  is  the 
cultivation  of  reason  and  reflection,  may  well  be  of  equal 
value  with  the  old  routine  of  habit,  artifice,  forms,  diplo- 
matic chimeras,  add  the  ridiculous  dogmas  of  those  who 
are  statesmen  by  trade.  * 

May  the  eternal  Disposer  of  human  events  watch  over 
your  welfare;  may  your  days  be  beneficent  and  active; 
employed  in  those  consolatory  duties  which  elevate  and 
fortify  the  soul ;  and  may  you,  till  the  extremest  old  age, 
enjoy  the  pure  felicity  of  having  employed  your  whole 
faculties  for  the  prosperity  of  the  people  for  whose  hap- 
piness you  are  responsible,  for  to  you  their  happiness  is 
intrusted ! 


THE    END. 


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